Seas of Change
by Mrs. Turk Malloy
Summary: My name is Sam and I have a brother who is a well known thief in the crime world where I once resided. It's a fairly easy game to get into. Getting out is the hard part. I learned this when it dragged me back into its current and pulled me under. Turk/OC
1. Appearance

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

I stare into the mirror before me, repeating a series of confident words inside my head. I could hear voices resonating off the walls as someone taps me on the shoulder with clammy fingers. I turn my head and look at my good friend, who stood smiling at me softly.

"Come on. We can do this." He gently hands me my tool and then pushes me out into the blaring light. I stare out into the darkness that had engulfed the room before me. There's nothing except silence as I stand beneath the only light. I can see nothing besides the darkness. I hear nothing besides the beating of my heart as it hammers wildly within my chest.

Slowly I raise my arms, gripping my hands tightly, as I take a deep breath to steady myself. I had done this before, but I still got jitters; worries. I even had unsteady hands. I had done this a hundred times with others, but now it was different. This was my third show on my own, but it still felt like the first.

The air gently fills with soft music, almost too low to seem real. The bow I hold glides in a smooth motion across the silvery strings of the instrument on my shoulder. I hit the next note, a little harder this time, and swallow the lump that had formed in my throat. I place and lift my fingers as the music carefully picks up speed.

A piano joins in from somewhere behind me, soothing me as I continue to pull and push the bow. I close my eyes and listen to the sounds I produce, loosing myself in the familiar tune. It begins to speed up and I race to move my fingers in rhythm with it. Then it slows to a turtle's pace and suddenly concludes. I've finished the piece I had chosen for the night, but it feels as if it had only just begun.

I open my eyes slowly and let my arms drop, holding my violin at my side. I stare out into the same darkness as before and try to make out any shape I could. I was looking for a certain shape; one shape. I couldn't see anything except for darkness though.

Gently the air fills with applause and I smile brightly, feeling I had accomplished something more magnificent then a simple violin solo. I bow and come back up before extending an arm behind me for the pianist, my friend, to receive credit. He bows and slowly we make our way off stage and behind the curtain, talking excitedly about what we had done.

I see several friends and others, whom I had never met before, standing around chit chatting. I look left and right, hoping my eyes might find the one person I want to see more then anything. I don't see him though. He's no where in sight. So I pack up my instrument in peace and thank everyone I see for coming and their praise. I leave before the party begins, feeling a little disappointed.

Every time I save a seat in the front row for him and most times he's in it. I was hoping he would come this time, that he would surprise me and be sitting in that seat looking up at me with that cocky smirk of his, but he wasn't. He had told me that he was busy with work. He told me he couldn't make it tonight. This was my fourth show solo and he had yet to see how wonderfully I could play.

I step out into the hallway and hum the piece I had played quietly as I make my way to the front doors of the concert hall. I think of him and wish that he would have been here. I wish he would have been waiting for me when I finished like he did at times. Standing outside the doors with a proud smile on his lips. The smile that told me I had done great, that I had made him proud of me. He was the only thing I had left in this world; him and my mother's violin.

I daze off into the past as I walk through the front doors of the concert hall and out into the cool night air. It was typical autumn weather for Pennsylvania, but it made me miss home. It made me miss my real home. I had a house up in Alaska, had for several years. Being on the road so much made me homesick for the log lined house with the wood fireplace.

"Quasi una fantasia!" My head snaps up and to the left at where the voice had come from. There he sat across the way on a stone bench. He had on a white suit that made his light blue eyes pop while his dirty blonde hair was as messy yet styled to perfection, as always. He was just as I remember him; classy, cool, and cocky as Hell.

In his lap sat a bouquet of white roses, reminding me of all the times he had been the _only_ one to come and watch my performances. Back when I was in school. Back when he was the one taking care of me, raising me.

My lips curl into a small smile as he flashes me a charming grin. He relaxes himself on the bench as though he had been waiting there the entire show for me. I walk to him, my heels clicking as I go, while I try to hold back the grin that was trying to push my smile away. I stop a few feet away and just stare at him, waiting for him to speak again, hoping that I wasn't imagining this.

"It means; Almost a fantasy. Beethoven wrote it in the title of Moonlight because-"

"Because the sonata doesn't follow the traditional pattern." I cut him off and push back hair from my face. I nod my head towards the roses, "Those for me?"

He looks down at them and gives a small laugh, holding them out for me to take. Knowing him he had forgotten he had been holding them at all. I take them and smell them, enjoying the light fragrance they emit.

"I thought you were busy." I speak softly and sit down beside him, my smile faltering. He fixes his suit coat and leans on his legs, staring out into the night.

"I finished sooner then I thought I would." He replies slowly, almost ashamed to admit it. He takes a quick glance over his shoulder, almost afraid of what I would say back or maybe what I wouldn't say. I lean my violin against the bench, staring down at the roses I was holding.

"So why did you then?" I ask and gently touch one of the soft petals.

"Because my little sister asked me to." He answers simply and straightens himself, "How could I miss your big rise to success?"

I look over at him, sensing there was more to his answer then that. He meets my stare and sighs heavily, knowing he was caught.

"...and because I need your help with a job." He admits as I nod my head. I look back out into the night, taking a deep breath. This was unusual coming from him, but not surprising. He never asked for help, let alone from me. I was the last person to be asked because I had left the game, which meant he really needed the help.

"What could you possibly need my help for?" I ask, honestly having no idea as to what would cause him to ask for it. He was the rich, suave, tycoon, who had virtually everything he could ever want or need. If either of us needed to be asking for help it should have been me.

"There's this _opportunity_ I sort of drew recently." He starts and looks over at me, rubbing his chin, "A casino job."

"Who's casino?" I ask and look over at him with a steady eye.

"Terry Benedict." I knew the name well, but it surprised me that this would be his first choice. Thinking about Benedict I remember how many casinos he owned and how well they were guarded from people like my brother...and me.

"Which casino?" I ask carefully.

"There's three actually."

"Three? You want to empty three?" I ask in shock as I turn to look at him with a disbelieving expression, "Which ones are they?"

"The Mirage, the MGM Grand, and the Bellagio."

"How are you going to hit each in one night?"

"Every cent ends up in the vault at Bellagio." He explains and looks over at me. I have nothing more to say to him and just take to shaking my head. I had an interest in this job. I couldn't deny that. I was bored and I felt lost. The only place I ever felt that I belonged was with my brother pulling cons.

"I can' believe this..." I speak up, looking back down at the roses I was holding. With the right team you could rob practically anything and anyone, but a casino was hard. Ribbing three? Impossible.

"Come on. You used to love doing jobs with me." He gives a laugh and wraps an arm around my shoulders, "Remember that time in Chicago?"

It was my turn to laugh. I did in fact remember the job in Chicago and the fun that I had doing it with him. That had been one of the last jobs we had done as a sibling tag-team.

"Yeah, I remember you pushing me in that algae infested fountain and then running off when they started shooting at us." I narrow my eyes at him, trying to hold back a grin. He gives a shrug and lets my shoulders go, that not being the part he was hoping I remembered.

"Yeah sorry about that." He sighs and leans on his legs once more.

"What about the crew?" I ask and push the golden strands of hair behind my ears, "How many will you have?"

"If everything goes right we'll have about ten. Danny and I were hoping you'd make eleven." He responds flatly as my eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"I thought Danny was in jail." I give a small laugh and think back on the man. He had been like a second brother to me. Him and my brother were a perfect for each other; clever, good-natured, and both cons. Perfect. Not romantically, but you get it.

"Got out yesterday." He replied as I think for a minute about all that this job would need. The crew, equipment, etc. There was a lot that would be needed so where were the funds coming from? Surely not from him and most definitely not from Danny.

"How are you getting the money to back this?" I ask softly, no clue as to how he would pull that part off.

"An enemy with loose cash and nothing to lose." He replies, encrypting his words purposely. This could be anyone. Terry Benedict had many enemies in the world, plenty of people that would like to see him crash and burn, but someone with nothing to lose? I smile and give a small laugh at the realization. There was only one person he could be talking about.

"Reuben..."

"Reuben." He confirms and smiles at me. I nod my head and laugh again. The plan was actually pretty well thought out thus far. I rethink everything he's told me and look at the doors of the concert hall. I had left the game behind for a normal life. I wanted to play the violin, find a nice guy and settle down. Maybe have a couple of kids. Guess fate had other plans for me.

"So when do we leave?" I ask and look back at him. He begins to stand up, straightening out his suit and looks out across the dark parking lot. He turns back to me and winks with a charming smile before walking away. I stand up from the bench and watch him, understanding what he meant; now.

"Come on! We got a plane to catch!" He calls back to me, pulling out his keys from his suit coat. I scowl and pick up my violin, hurrying to catch up to him.

"Robert Charles Ryan! I can't believe we're related." I huff as I sit myself in the passengers seat of his convertible. I put my violin by my feet and buckle myself in as he pulls out of the parking lot, laughing.

"Yet you love me anyways Sammy." He smiles as we drive down the road towards the center of the city and the airport. Only one thing plagued my mind the entire drive.

"Oh boy...I wonder what Reuben will say."


	2. You're Nuts!

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Are you out of your God damn minds!" Reuben shouts, pointing towards us with a cigar in between his fingers. The air falls quiet while the sun shines down on Danny, Rusty, and I as we sit patiently waiting for what more he had to say. Reuben takes a drag from his cigar and then points at me, "And they dragged you into this, Doll Face?"

"Actually I agreed to it." I pipe up, switching my legs and recrossing them. It was a little funny to me to see Reuben so worked up. It was refreshing.

"What happened to the normal life you were gonna have? Get a husband, have some rugrats." Reuben snaps and all I can do is shrug.

"I still want that, but Rust said he needed help. Family first." I reply, but Reuben shakes his head at me.

"Are you three even listening to me? You're nuts! You're all fucking nuts for this!" He bursts out again. I roll my eyes and look out at the pool sitting a few feet away from us.

"Reuben, just listen. We-"

"No! I know more about casino security then any man alive." Reuben cuts Danny off, leaning on the small table. He peers at each of us through his thick rimmed sunglasses, "I invented it and it **cannot** be beaten."

"It's never been tried." Danny spoke up after a long silence. I carefully pick up my glass of lemonade and take a sip, the hot Nevada air making me uncomfortable. I had never been good with the heat let alone the humidity that followed it.

"Oh...it's _never _been tried...It's been tried." Reuben shakes his head and takes a fork full of his salad, "A few guys even came close. Do you know the three greatest robberies ever?"

We all sit quietly, knowing it was a rhetorical question. Reuben liked rhetorical questions only because he loved to talk. I loved it when he talked. It was a rant that went on forever about everything that popped into his head.

"This pencil neck grabs a lock box and got two steps closer to the door then anyone before him." Reuben explains and wipes him mouth of the Italian vinaigrette.

"That was The Bronze Medal." I spoke up, recalling this story Reuben had told me before.

"Right." Reuben gives a smirk and sets his fork down, "Next, this guy got to taste fresh oxygen before they got him. Ended up breathing out of a hose for the next three weeks. God damn hippie."

"The Flamingo; 1971." I laugh and set down my glass, crossing my arms over my chest. That was my favorite story out of the three. Mainly because of the way Reuben told it. He was very opinionated and it always made me laugh.

"Good." Reuben smiles at me and looks back at the boys, "And the closest any man has come to robbing a Las Vegas casino. He came. He grabbed. **They **conquered."

"Caesar's; 1987. The guy got shot in the back twice while he was running through the parking lot." I look down at the food on the table a pick up a strawberry, feeling Rusty and Danny's eyes on me. I look over at them and smirk, giving them a wink. I had a thing for listening to people, especially with something so interesting as nearly successful robberies.

"But what am I saying?" Reuben starts up again, grabbing our attention, "You guys are pros; the best. I'm sure you can make it out of a casino."

Reuben went back to his salad as I look over at the boys. We _were_some of the best crooks, but then again there **was **a reason why we had never tried to rob a casino before. It was extremely difficult and required a lot of people and planning to pull it off. Years of planning and trustworthy people that were hard to come by in this line of work.

"Lest we forget though, once you're out the front door you're still in the middle of the fucking desert!" Reuben shouts, throwing his fork back onto his plate again. I look down at my glass that was sweating and sigh. I hate Nevada. Really hate Nevada.

"You're right."

"He's right." Danny and Rusty comment, looking at each other. I look over at them and watch as they set out to get Reuben involved, "Our eyes were bigger then our stomachs."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...blah blah blah." Reuben returns with, keeping his eyes on his food. Rusty nudges me and signals that we're leaving. I wipe my face of anything that might be there and place the napkin on the table.

"Thank you for lunch." Danny announces as we all stand up.

"Sorry we bothered you Reuben." I apologize as he looks up at us, "Maybe I'll see you when I head this way on my tour."

"Yeah...maybe." Reuben pipes up dejectedly. Danny leans forward with his arm outstretched and shakes Reuben's, "Look, we all go way back and I owe you from the thing with the guy in the place and I'll never forget it."

Reuben shakes Rusty's hand next and nods at me, picking up his fork.

"It was a pleasure." Danny smiles down at him and then we begin the walk away, each of us knowing that Reuben just couldn't resist if we gave up so easily.

"You think he's going to take the bait?" I ask quietly from beside Rusty as we walk passed the pool. They both look at each other and then back at me, nodding their heads.

"Just out of curiosity," Reuben calls from his seat, causing us to stop and look at each other before looking back at him, "Which casinos did you geniuses pick to rob?"

"Uh...the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM." Danny calls back to him and then we begin walking away once more. I hear the clatter of Reuben's fork on his plate and smile to myself, biting my lower lip to keep from laughing. Rusty and Danny had gotten much better over the years.

"Those are Terry Benedict's casinos." We stop again and look back at Reuben. He stares at us for a split moment and then jumps out of his seat, walking towards us, "You guys, what have you got against Benedict?"

"What do_ you _have against him?" Danny retorts with as we all watch Reuben carefully. We already knew what Reuben had against the guy.

"He torpedoed my casino." Reuben answers slowly, putting his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks, "Muscled me out of it."

"What's he going to do with it?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest and squint from the sunlight. Benedict had plenty of empty locations he could have built things on. So, what was so special to muscle Reuben out of his?

"He's going to blow it up next month and make some gaudy monstrosity." Reuben stops and looks around at us carefully. Suddenly, his eyes narrow at us, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

"What _are _we doing?" Danny asks, trying to play off our little plan.

"You're going to steal from Terry Benedict you'd better God damn know." Reuben answers slowly, taking a small moment to look at each of us again as if pondering the possibilities, "This sorta thing used to be civilized. You hit a guy, he'd whack ya; done. But with Benedict...at the end of this he better not know you're involved. Not know your names or anything because he'll kill ya and then go to work on ya."

"That's why we have to be very careful. Very precise." Rusty states, pushing his hands into his pants pockets.

"Hm, well funded." Danny also states, looking from Rusty to me.

"Good equipment." I nod my head and look back at Reuben.

"Yeah, you gotta be nuts too and you're gonna need a crew as nuts as you." Reuben smiles and looks around at us, each of us knowing we had gotten him, "Who ya got in mind?"

I look up at Danny, a smirk on my lips, and then look at Rusty the same. I shake my head a little and give a small soft snort of a laugh. They had definitely gotten better over the years. Better then I was, that's for sure.

"Let's go sit down." I offer and walk past Reuben, heading towards the table. The boys follow behind me as I sit down in my seat again, plucking a strawberry from a plate on the table. I reach into my purse for the list I had written after we had confirmed the participants and pull it out. I open the folder and start looking through the portfolios I had put together on the crew, "The people we have in mind are plenty nuts as we are."

I hand the portfolios to Reuben, who quickly reads them over. A grin slowly replaces his smile as his face brightens.

"This could work." He grins as he looks up from the papers, "Who do we got for sure?"

Danny takes the papers from Reuben and looks at the first portfolio.

"Frank C. has developed a bad case of bronchitis and has requested to be transferred to warmer climates." Danny explains as he reads over the paper. I reach over the table and snatch the papers. I scan the names and then point to two separate papers I laid on the table.

"The Malloy's." Rusty speaks up, looking over the papers in my hands. I nod my head and look across the table at Reuben.

"I've never met them, but they're supposed to be good. They like to be called 'The Rough Drivers' since they're usually the getaways." I spoke up and look over at Rusty, "Did you call them?"

"I talked to them yesterday." Rusty continues, taking the papers from me.

"These the Mormon twins?" Danny asks, looking between Rusty and I. I shrug, seeing as I have no clue. I had never met them or heard of them before. I just did the research, called in a few favors, and was given these twos' names.

"They're in Salt Lake City, six months off the job." Rusty speaks up and I pick another strawberry off the table. Rusty watches me as I plop it into my mouth, "Supposed to be some of the best getaways in the last ten years."

Rusty pulls his gaze away, shaking his head at some thought he had had about me, and looks back at Reuben.

"I got the sense they're having trouble filling the hours lately." Rusty picks up a raspberry from the table and pops it into his mouth, leaning back in his seat.

"Then there's Livingston Dell; electronics. He's been doing freelance work for the FBI mob squad. Sam, did you get The Amazing Yen?" Rusty looks over at me and I nod my head, searching through the portfolios for the one I wanted. I pick up the paper and read it over.

"Yeah, he was doing a circus thing out in San Diego. You should have seen him. He's brilliant. Definitely the grease monkey." I reply and cross my legs, leaning on the table. I pick up another paper and smile, "Robbie and I found Saul out in St. Petersburg at a dog race. Rob, you got Tarr, right?"

"Yeah, he was out in L.A. doing a job that went south. Got him from going to jail though." Rusty finishes as I place the portfolios back into the folder and put it back in my purse.

"We may actually have a chance." Reuben looks to each of us and then smiles.

"They thought so." I nod my head towards Rusty and Danny, giving a little shrug. Reuben reaches into the rob he wore over himself and his swim trunks, pulling out another cigar.

"You don't?" He asks as he lights up, taking a long drag from it. I arch an eyebrow and stare at him with a steady eye.

"You're kidding right?" I ask finally and lean back in my seat, "I haven't been in the game for a while. Its like this whole thing is foreign soil to me."

Reuben gives a small laugh and nods his head, taking another drag from his cigar. He looks over at Danny and Rusty, giving another laugh at some joke I wasn't quiet sure of.

"What am I missing?" I ask, but was only returned with another laugh from Reuben.

"Getting into the game isn't the hard part, Doll Face. It's getting out that fucks you over." Reuben replies through another laugh. My face twists as I look back at Rusty and Danny. Both of them refuse to look at me, making me wonder what I was **really **missing.

We head out a little while afterwards and to Danny's favorite bar. I sit beside Rusty, who leans his head on his arms that are crossed on the bar counter, while Danny takes his others side. It was pretty much empty despite the few stragglers that walked in and out ever now and then.

"So Saul makes eleven." I try to strike up a conversation as I stare down at my hands on the counter. I was still a little confused about the what Reuben was talking about, but I was trying to let it go. Trying is the key word.

"You think that's enough?" Danny asks as Rusty and him watch the game on TV.

"I think so." I respond and wait for Rusty to reply. When I hear nothing from him I look to Danny. He gives me the same look and so I look down at Rusty, "You think we need one more?"

Rusty continues to sit silently, not bothering to look at either of us and stares blankly at the tv. I look back at Danny again and give a small nod, knowing what he was thinking.

"You think we need one more." Danny states and turns back to the game on TV, taking a sip of his drink. I look down at Rusty and pat his back back, "Okay, we'll get one more."

"Yeah, but who?" I ask and look back at the tv, letting my hand drop from Rusty, "We've basically got everyone who's anyone in this business."

Danny sets his glass on the counter and shrugs a little, "I've got someone in mind."


	3. Flashback and Greetings

**}{Seas of Change}{**

I walk out of the suite Rusty and I were staying in and head down into the main hall. I was on my way to Reuben's house to meet and greet the crew for the first time. I walk outside and hail a cab, climbing into the back seat while thanking God that it didn't smell like booze or throw up like most taxis did anywhere in the world.

In my lap sat a small tin of cookies that I could smell in the air. I had baked them for Reuben like I always used to. I thought it would be a nice gesture, a familiar gesture. He had always been there for me. Sort of like the father I had had, but was never around when I needed him. Except better. Yet Reuben was also a good friend at the same time.

We had meet several years ago in Miami where I was loosing a rather high roller poker game. I was a good card counter...sometimes, but that was just not my night. He had saved me even though I hadn't asked to be saved. I was drowning and before it even registered in my head he had thrown me a life jacket.

_"I raise." I push my chips forward on the table and smirk at the other members of the game. I knew I had nothing, but that wasn't the point. These schmucks around me thought I had something. That would be enough._

_ "Mind if I join?" I look over at the older gentleman with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He stares at me with a smirk that rivaled my own as he takes a long drag of his cigar._

_ "The stakes are very high sir. May I suggest you wait until the next game?" The dealer speaks up, but the gentleman's gaze stays on me. I feel my face falter and I look back down at the table to the cards that were under my hands._

_ "Sounds like my kind of chance. Deal me in." The gentleman replies and sits down beside me without a second word from the dealer. I try to ignore the man beside me and the smell of his cigar smoke as the game continues, "What's your name, Doll Face?"_

_ I continue to look around the table at the others, watching the cards as they either took or discarded. I had to keep track if I was going to win._

_ "Amelia." I reply and then look down at my cards in my hand. I look over at the dealer and hold up two fingers, requesting two new cards. I throw two cards away on the table and pick up my new ones, knowing exactly what they were going to be before I looked down at them._

_ The gentleman beside me gives a small chuckle and asks for three cards, pushing his old ones away. I look at him from the corner of my eyes and then back around the table._

_ "I fold." One of the other men at the table tosses his cards in and leans back in his seat. I look to the other men, waiting for them to also fold. They follow suit soon after, leaving me, the dealer, and the gentleman._

_ "Dealer shows a Four of a Kind." The dealer flips over his cards and I give a small laugh. I look over at the gentleman and wait for him._

_ "My mother raised a gentleman. Ladies first." He gives a small gesture for me to go ahead and I shake my head, laying my cards down._

_ "Straight Flush." I spread my cards apart to show the rest of the table. I look over at the gentleman beside me, waiting for the expression I knew would come with his realization of defeat._

_ "You're good." The gentleman looks over at me and smirks, "Not good enough. Royal Flush."_

_ I swallow hard and look down at his cards on the table. This was the first time I had lost so much money and as the wheels in my head started turning, I knew that he understood what I had been doing. The gentleman stands from his seat and looks down at me, picking up his winnings from the table. He taking the cigar out from his mouth for a moment and sighs._

_ "Why don't you come with me, Doll Face? We need to have a little chat. Maybe you can tell me your real name too." He pops the cigar back into his mouth and starts to walk away. I stay rooted to my seat, my heart pounding in my chest at being found out. The gentleman continues to walk, "I wasn't giving you a choice, Doll Face!"_

_ I quickly stand from my seat and follow after him, my satin blue dress swaying as I walked. I had no idea where he was leading me through the casino, but he obviously had a specific spot. He lead me out into the small gardens at the back of the casino outside._

_ I felt a little strange being alone with him. I was more scared of the feeling that he was about to make a 'proposition' that I couldn't refuse if I wanted to stay out of jail. Young girl who had just made a major mistake and older gentleman who had caught her. You get the idea right? It was a stereotype, but I was scared and not thinking rationally._

_ "You've made a very big mistake." The gentleman started, turning around to look at me. He takes a long drag of his cigar and then removes it from his mouth, pointing at me, "You're lucky no one, but me saw you. If the damn dealer knew what you were doin' you would have been spending the next five years in jail. Maybe more."_

_ I watch him carefully as he takes another drag from his cigar. I had no idea what to respond with. He wasn't my father, Hell, he wasn't anything to me, but he had caught me; fair and square. All I could do now was listen to what he had to say._

_ "Who taught you how to count cards?" He asks suddenly and throws his cigar to the ground. I lick my lips and go to answer, "That was rhetorical."_

_ I nod my head and shut my mouth tightly._

_ "You've got two choices here, Doll Face." He begins again and shoves his hands into the pockets of his tuxedo._

_ "Samantha." I snap and look back at him._

_ "What?"_

_ "My name is **Samantha**." I clarify, not liking the nickname he had been calling me._

_ "Great." He replies as if it was the stupidest thing ever. I roll my eyes and look back down at the ground, crossing my arms over my chest, "Here's the choices. A) I call the cops right now and have you arrested or B)...you let me teach you how to count and you come work for me for a while."_

_ My eyes instantly land on him, believing I had heard him wrong. He's going to teach me to count cards? He wants me to work for him, counting cards? This wasn't what I had had in mind._

_ "I like option B." I reply softly and let my arms fall from my chest. The gentleman gives a smirk and walks closer, pulling a new cigar from his tux jacket._

_ "Knew you would, Doll Face." The gentleman lights up his cigar and blows out the smoke from it. He stares down at me and then shakes his head a little with the smirk cemented onto his face, "Knew you would."_

Reuben, despite it being his casino I had been caught in, had decided not to throw my girly ass in jail and the poorhouse that night. Since then I had done a couple of jobs for him, nothing too big, but we've been friends ever since.

The cab stops outside Reuben's house and I scramble to pull my money out of my pants pocket. I pay the cabdriver and step out of the car, staring at the large house before me. The air was a little chilly and though the scarf I wore around my neck was for fashion purposes I was grateful that I had decided on it. I probably could have done without the spaghetti strap though.

I walk up the familiar walkway that would lead me to Reuben's front door and slow my pace as I hear voices. I recognized Reuben's, but some of the others were strangers. I round the corner and smile, seeing the crew standing there with Reuben staring out at them.

"What? Did you guys get a group rate or something?" Reuben asks as he stares at the crew from his open door. I laugh out loud and walk down the path towards the front door with the tin of cookies in hand. Everyone looks to me, some confused as to who I was and others, like Saul, smile.

"Play nice Reuben. Don't want you scaring them away." I laugh again as I walk passed the crew and hold out the tin for Reuben to take. I shake the tin so he can hear that there was something inside and smile, "Otherwise I won't bake for you anymore."

Reuben takes his cigar form his mouth and gives a small laugh, looking down at me. He takes the tin and opens it to peek inside at the treats that awaited him.

"Chocolate Macadamian Nut cookies. You spoil me, Doll Face." He closes the lid and puts his cigar back into his mouth, taking a long drag from it. I shrug with a smile and cross my arms over my chest. I really wanted to tell him I hated his nickname for me, but then again it was nice at the same time. One of those 'comforting' things that told me nothing had changed.

"I know, but I can't help it." I laugh and look at the crew who had been watching the entire time. My eyes land on Saul and Basher. My smile turns into a grin, "Hey Basher!"

"'Ey Giggles. How the show in Philadelphia go?" Basher replies with a smile and a nod of his head. I raise a hand and shake it a little to show him it went so-so.

"Alright. Russ actually showed up this time." I respond and cross my arms over my chest again.

"Did he now?" Basher asks, seeming as surprised as I had been, "That's a little surprisin' seein' as he's been busy with work."

"Yeah, I guess." I nod my head and look to Saul, "Hi Saul. Did Russ and I pick a good dog or what?"

I give a small laugh and grin at him. Rusty and I had given Saul a winning ticket at the dog races when we had gone to see him. It was an easy switch, beginner con as far as Rusty and I were concerned.

"A very good dog. Don't know how you did it and I'd prefer not to if you don't mind." Saul returns with a small laugh. I look around at the rest of the crew and smirk, shaking my head as though I was disappointed with them.

"Wow, when did they start poppin' out crooks at such a young age?" I ask as though I was older then them all, but in retrospect I was probably the youngest out of them. I look back at Reuben and wait for his smart-ass reply.

"Probably about the same time as you tried to swindle in my casino." He comments, earning a laugh from me, "Now get inside before you freeze that ass of yours off."

"Don't let the crude and rude attitude fool you boys." I start, placing a hand on Reuben's shoulder and staring out at the crew, "He's a big push over."

"Get inside before I smack that grin off your face. Don't think I won't either." Reuben growls through the cigar in his mouth. I give Reuben a small hug as I laugh and wink at the others. I walk into the house and see Frank leaning against the half wall to the living room.

"Long time no see, baby girl." Frank smiles as I walk closer with open arms.

"I know. Too long." I greet and wrap my arms around him in an embrace. We pull apart and he holds me at arms length, studying me while the crew begins to pile into the house.

"Look at you. More beautiful then I remember." He comments with a smile and lets me go. I laugh and nod my head, looking down at myself.

"Yeah well growing up does that to people some times." I return and watch as Reuben closes the door of the house, "But look at you. Finally moved to a warmer climate."

"Yeah, came down with a bad case of bronchitis." Frank rubs a hand over his chest as he grins. I shake my head and roll my eyes. He was exactly the same as I remembered him. I carefully look over the crew standing about the room, shaking my head unconsciously.

"Somethin' wrong there, Giggles?" A familiar British voice asks, causing me to look to my right. There stood Basher Tarr with a cocky smirk and his arms crossed over his chest, "Or maybe you're just excited?"

"Hm, maybe just a _little_ excited." I hold out my thumb and pointer finger, demonstrating how much. I was a lot more then a little excited and by the looks Frank and Basher exchanged it seemed they knew too.

"Just a little?" Basher asks with a knowing smile. I give a shrug and loop my thumbs in my belt hoops, "The lonely, miserable lifestyle of a married mother not workin' out for you?"

"There's still hope. I'm only twenty-four." I retort back.

"You're only twenty-four?" Basher asks with a seriously surprised face. He was good. His acting was really good. I give him a small bump with my shoulder and he laughs, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Welcome home Sam." Basher smiles and kisses my hair. His words meant a lot to me. It seemed he knew better then anyone just how I had been feeling. Russ and Danny were my brothers; one by blood the other by guilty association. Reuben was my father. Saul was like my grandfather. Frank like a cousin and Basher was my best friend, maybe even twin.

"Thanks Basher." I laugh and wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him into a side hug. I look between the him and Frank with a smile, "You two ready for all this?"

"You're asking **us**?" Franks asks with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. I close my eyes and shake my head, knowing he was right, "You're the one that's been out of the game for a while."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." I laugh again and shake my head. I look at each of them and take a deep breath, sighing heavily, "I hope I'm ready for this."


	4. The Party Begins

**}{Seas of Change}{**

"Shall we head out back then?" Someone asks from behind me, placing their hands on my shoulders. I tilt my head back and look up at Rusty with a smile. I nod my head and extend my arm towards the back door, telling him to lead the way. I open the back door and step outside with Rusty, smiling at the little set up of lights, drinks, and food. The others followed behind after a few moments and the 'party' began.

It was more then a party. It was a meet and greet really. A place for us all to get to know each other because we would be working together. All that was missing were the 'Hello, My Name Is' tags.

I walk away from the conversation Basher, Rusty, and I were having and kneel by one of the coolers. I stare down at the bottles of wine coolers and beer then begin to dig through the ice, searching for something other then alcohol. I stop my search and huff a little.

"Hey Ro- whoa...Russ!" I call out, closing the cooler and scowling at myself for almost saying his real name. I stand up beside the cooler and look over at him. Russ looks over at me from where he stood with Basher, "Is there anything nonalcoholic? Please?"

Russ laughs and walks over to me, opening the cooler I had just been in. He pulls out a soda and hands it to me, a smirk on his lips and a laugh in his eyes. I look at the soda in my hand and then slowly look to him with a blank stare.

"That wasn't there a moment ago. **I swear**." I laugh and shut my eyes tightly, feeling like an idiot. He nods his head, saying_ 'sure', _and takes a swig from his drink. I point at him with narrowed eyes and make my lips a tight line, wanting to say something more. I decide against the comment I had in mind and pointed to Basher, "Go back to Basher..._Rust Bucket_."

"With pleasure, Sammy." Rusty walks away, leaving me with my soda and a smile. I look around the pool at everyone who was here, noticing Saul standing by himself. I slowly walk over and pluck a cracker from the table, popping it into my mouth as nonchalantly as I could.

"I heard that you've been playing the violin semi-professionally these days. Solo too now." Saul starts, earning a shake of my head. I look back at Rusty and snort softly, thinking about what he had said when I had told him about wanting to play the violin as a career.

"Yeah, I did. Despite Russ's comments." I reply and lean against the table, staring out at the softly illuminated pool. I spot Yen sitting on the diving board and notice card house he had made. I smile unintentionally and look down at my drink.

"Ignore him." Saul smiles at me and takes a bite out of the piece of cheese he had on his plate, "You're mother would be proud of you. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me, Saul." I return and look down at my feet, the mention of my mother making me sad. I feel Saul place a hand on my shoulder and I look over at him, whispering that I was alright. He knew all about what had happened to Russ and my mother. She was killed, murdered in her bed one night while I was at a sleep over and Rusty was out coning. I was ten. He was eighteen. He became my legal guardian after that. I wouldn't have done well in foster care, or so he had said.

"So...Saul right?" I lift my head at the voice and stare at the man wearing the biker jacket. I look back at Saul, who had turned to the man, and then look back. The man had similar colored hair as Rusty's, but it was longer and combed back sleek like. He had a full beard that was neatly trimmed down to near nothing, but a faint short stubble.

"Yes." Saul replies as I take a sip of my drink.

"You make it out to Utah much?" The man asks, looking down at what was laid out on the table. I give a soft laugh and look down at the ground.

"Not as often as I'd like." Saul looks over at me, catching my glance, and gives a small wink before eating something else off of his plate. Saul never really made it out to anywhere but his home. He wasn't much for traveling.

"Maybe you should check it out. I think you could do probono. I think you'd do very well there." The man states in a small rush. I could tell that he was a little nervous, maybe felt out of place for some reason. I tap my soda bottle softly with my nails and look out at the pool where Yen is again.

"I'll look into it." Saul assures him and looks over at me. I meet his gaze and then look back at the man, rocking on his feet, "What's your name son?"

"He's a Malloy." I reply for the man, having already known who he was the moment I had seen the crew outside Reuben's front door. I point a finger at him and narrow my eyes with a smile, "Turk, right?"

"Uh, yeah." He responds carefully with a small polite smile. As he looks over at me I notice his eyes, a stormy kind of blue that seemed to glow from the lamp that sat on the table closest to us. I liked them. Maybe if I hadn't been surrounded by men and crooks most of my life I would have blushed, but that wasn't me.

"Is your brother the one with the Bill Nye hair and the mustache?" I ask, nodding my head to the man that was talking with Frank. Turk looks over at who I was staring at and nods his head, looking back at me.

"Yeah that's him." His replies and then stares at me, his eyes narrowing as he extends his pointer finger from around his beer bottle, pointing at me, "Do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar."

"I dunno. Do you like classical music?" I laugh and take a sip of my drink, resting it in my hands before me. Turk looks over at Saul in question and then turns back to me, shaking his head as he tries to think of what to say.

"Hello gentlemen." I look over at Danny, who had just come from the house, and smile sarcastically, waiting for him to correct himself, "And lady. Welcome to Las Vegas."

"Thank you!" I singsong out and cap my soda bottle tightly.

"Everybody eating? Good." Danny looks out at all of us, taking notice to what we were drinking, "Everybody sober? ...Close enough."

I give a small laugh and look over at Rusty, shrugging my shoulders to tell him I couldn't help it. I was a little giddy, anxious, and I knew it. I look back at Danny after a moment and close my mouth tightly, trying to hold back another laugh.

"Alright. What I'm about to propose to you all is highly secretive and very dangerous. If that doesn't seem like your brand of Vodka then please enjoy the food and have a safe trip home." Danny starts, looking around at us. Slowly a smirk crosses his face as he sticks his hands into his suit coat pockets, "Otherwise come with me."

Danny starts walking away and Rusty follows while small chatter comes from the rest of the crew. I look around and then at Saul and Turk, with a grin.

"Secretive is my middle name boys." I lick my lips before following after Rusty into the house. I sit down on the arm of the chair and wait, hoping to see the crew follow. Slowly, the others piled in and I feel Rusty nudge me. I look up at him and lean closer to hear what he has to say.

"Get Reuben and Linus, will you?" He asks, noticing the two are missing. I stand up and walk to the back door, spotting the two by the pool. I take a deep breath and step out a little ways.

"Hey you two!" I call out to them, earning their attention, "Get your rears in gear before I come over there and drag you both inside this house!"

Reuben and Linus exchange a look and then Reuben says something to him. Linus stands up and walks passed me, heading into the house. I follow behind him, Reuben close behind me and stop at the back door, allowing him to go ahead of me.

"God, you're a real ball buster." Reuben comments as he walks passed me and into the house, "I feel sorry for the poor sap that marries you."

"Wow, I can just _feel _the love here Reuben." I scoff as I shut the back door. I turn back to Reuben, my eyes face littered with a sarcastic smile, "I'm so glad I decided to come out of retirement for this."

"You bring out the best in me, Doll Face." He replies with and gives a small shrug, taking a drag from his cigar. I move to sit beside the coffee table and close to where Turk was sitting with his brother on one of the couches. I see Rusty trying to hold back a laugh and I narrow my eyes at him.

"You're a jerk." I state and point at him, "I'm your little sister. You're supposed to be sticking up for me."

"What? No. Anyway you didn't have to do this. I'm not holding a gun to your head." Rusty retorts with and I knew he was right. Even if I didn't want to do half the things he asked me to I felt compelled to do them anyway. Big brother knows best, right?

"No, but like you said before, 'I did it because you asked me to'." I respond and turn my back to him, leaning back in my hands as I outstretch my legs, "You're a friggin' thorn that just keeps digging itself deeper into my side, Russ."

"Yeah, but you love me for it." Rusty smiles and crosses his arms over his chest. I outstretch a hand to the ceiling dramatically.

"Who would if not I that doth love you for the crap that thou do?" I laugh and close my eyes, yawning as I lean my head back a little. It was late and I was tired. I knew if Danny didn't start soon I was going to pass out here and now.

"Don't fall asleep." Russ calls out to me tauntingly through a laugh. I curse under my breath at him and yawn again.

"I'm sure Reuben wouldn't mind me crashing here." I smile and look back at Reuben with a sweet smile, "Right?"

"Don't even think about it." Reuben points at me and I laugh again, sitting up a little straighter, "I remember the last time you stayed here. That's not happening again."

"What 'appened the last time?" Basher asks, looking from me to Reuben. Rusty gives a small laugh from beside me and I instinctively elbow him.

"I come home from working my casino," Reuben starts and then points a finger at me again, "and find that she's pulled a complete makeover on my house. Every piece of furniture gone. Rooms painted. Floors torn up. It was a disaster. Looked as if a bomb had literally gone off."

"It wasn't a disaster! You came home earlier then I expected." I argue and look back at him, "and anyways, half the crap in here was outdated. It was all junk you had bought back in the sixties."

"My Frank Sinatra records were junk?" Reuben suddenly asks and takes a drag of his cigar. I shake my head and point my own finger at him.

"Did I say they were junk? No. I respected the Frank Sinatra memorabilia. I even had everything cased and shelved for display." I wave a hand off in the general direction to where I knew the Frank Sinatra 'shrine' still sat in the next room over.

"What about my billiards room?"

"What about it?" I ask, honestly having no recollection of ever doing anything to the room.

"You painted it neon green!" Reuben shouts, pulling his cigar out from his mouth. I narrow my eyes at the ceiling and think back. A laugh surfaced in my throat, remembering the room now.

"It was called Keylime! It looked good. Better then that puke color you had painted it." I give a small laugh and look back over at him.

"It was olive."

"No, it was puke and it was chipping and the floors were stained and the pool table legs were cracked." I argued back and gave a sarcastic smile and tilt of my head.

"Are you two finished?" Danny suddenly speaks up, looking from Reuben to me. I stare at him and cross my arms over my chest. I look over at Basher and shake my head.

"It's so good to be home." I say sarcastically and then scoff, leaning back on my hands again.

"Finished?" Danny asks again and I nod my head, closing my eyes, "Good because we have a lot of ground to cover."


	5. Good News and Bad News

**}{Seas of Change}{**

"Are we all ready?" Danny asks as he walks over to the TV several feet from me on the wall. We all reply with a yes and he turns the TV on to the image of a blueprint, "The three thousand block of Las Vegas Boulevard. Also known as The Mirage, The MGM Grand, and the Bellagio."

I open my eyes and stare at the blueprint, seeing the tiny words marking the three hotels Danny was planning on hitting.

"This is the vault at the Bellagio." Danny hit a button on the remote he carried and the blueprint of Las Vegas Boulevard disappeared, a diagram of the vault taking its place, "Located below the strip, beneath two hundred feet of solid earth. It safeguards every single dime that passes through each of the three casinos above it...We're going to rob it."

"Smash and grab job, huh?" I turn my head and stare at the new kid, Linus, who had spoken. I wish it was a smash and grab job. Those were easy; get in, get out. What Danny had planned was, well like I said before, impossible.

"Slightly more complicated then that." Rusty returns with and looks back at the TV.

"Slightly? Try extremely or considerably, even substantially more complicated. A smash and grab is a piece of cake compared to this. This plan is more like going at a hurricane with a butterfly net." I rant and look back at the TV screen. I study the digram of the vault. It was definitely complex, "This is gonna be a real bitch."

"Yes, thank you for those words of...encouragement Sam." Danny stares at me a moment and then looks around at the rest of the group, "Good news or bad news first?"

"Bad news first please." I speak up, watching the screen change again.

"Okay, the place houses a security system that rivals most nuclear silos." Danny explains and I sit up straighter, crossing my legs like a pretzel, "So this isn't going to be as easy as a smash and grab as Sam so delicately put it."

"Someone had to be straight forward." I mumble as Danny stares down at me again.

"If you have so much to say tonight, then why don't you lead us in the plan." Danny extends the remote to the TV to me.

"Do I have to?" I ask and look from the remote to him. Danny looks over at Rusty and then back down at me, nodding his head. I groan and pick myself up from the ground. I take the remote from Danny and he walks over to where Rusty sat on the arm of the couch. I look at the screen and take a deep breath, trying to decide where to start.

"Alright...First off, we have to get into the casino cages. It'll take a lot more then a simple smile to do so." I hit a button on the remote and the image on the screen changes. I look at the group staring at the TV and also me. I swallow hard, feeling as though I was once again on stage with the blaring lights in my eyes as everyone waited for me. I look at the TV again and point to something on the screen.

"Then we have to get through these doors here. Each of them require a six digit code that changes every twelve hours on the minute. Passed them is the elevator." I hit the button on the remote and the image changes again, "This is the tricky part. The elevator won't move for anything without authorized fingerprint authentication a-"

"Which we can't fake." Rusty announces to the group and looks back at me.

"Right and it needs vocal confirmation from both the security system from within the Bellagio and from the vault below. Then there's-"

"Which we won't get." Rusty cuts in again and I could see the smile trying to make it's way to his lips. I stare at him blankly and raise the remote up, hitting the next button as I continue to stare at him hard.

"Lastly, the shaft of the elevator is rigged with motion sensors." I stop and wait for Rusty to explain this time, "Go ahead."

"Meaning if we were to manually override the lift the shaft section would lock down automatically and we'd be trapped inside." I stare at him and nod my head slowly. And to think I thought he hadn't been paying attention the other day when we went over this.

"Game over. See you guys in ten to fifteen years. Probably longer." I pipe up, looking around at everyone. Danny stands up from his seat and moves to me, taking the remote. I sit back in my spot on the ground and crisscross my legs again, leaning on my knees.

"Alright, once we're down the shaft everything is a smooth ride."

"Yeah...for the most part." I speak up, earning everyone's gaze again. I look behind me at the crew and then look back at Danny.

"What do you mean 'for the most part', Sam?" Danny asks, confused by what I meant.

"Well...they kind of, sort of...put two armed guards at the doors to the vault within the last week." I give him a sheepish look and shrug a little.

"Armed with what?" Rusty asks, not knowing what I was talking about either.

"Nothing much. Just a couple of...uzis." I explain and look between him and Danny, "And then the most painstakingly complex sealed door ever constructed by humankind."

Danny stares down at me for a long moment, making me uneasy. It's not like I had known this for days. It was just the last two, but he seemed to think it was weeks coming. I look away from him and turn myself around to the sit at the coffee table, staring at the top of it. I can feel Danny's eyes burning a hole in my back and I try to ignore it. I look over towards Rusty and see him laughing softly. He meets my gaze and shakes his head, sighing as if to say 'I'd hate to be you right now'. I turn back to the coffee table and let my head drop onto its top, hard, and groan.

"I remember who you are now!" A voice suddenly shouts out. I look to my left at Turk, who sat beside Rusty, "Yeah, you're the violinist who fell off the stage before her concert in Russia and broke her wrist."

I roll my eyes and set my head back down on the table, laughing lightly at myself. Of course that would be where he knew me from. I was the girl that fell off a stage at a concert and broke her wrist, unable to play in it. Oh the irony.

"You fell off a stage?" Rusty asks and I give a fake cry, "I thought you said-"

"I know what I said. I lied...! I fell off a stage..!" I reply and lift my head, the room falling silent. I look at Rusty and watch as he tries to hold back a laugh. I grit my teeth and shake my head slowly at him, swearing to God that if he laughed I would kill him.

"Does anyone have questions about the _plan_?" Danny asks after another moment of silence. Yen speaks up in Mandarin and I look at him.

"Tunneling is out." I answer and sigh. That had been my first idea too, "There's sensors monitoring the ground. It's guarded better then the White House."

"You said something about good news?" Virgil asks and Danny nods his head.

"The Nevada gaming commissions stipulates that a casino must hold and reserve enough cash to cover every chip at play. That means, on a week day, by law, it will carry anywhere between sixty and seventy million in cash and coin." Danny explains, looking from one of us to the next, "On the weekend, between eighty and ninety million. On a fight night, like the one two weeks from tonight that we're gonna hit, one hundred and fifty million."

I feel my eyebrows raise on their own as I stare back at Danny in shock. I had known that the payout would be a lot of shinny pennies, but this was more like a lot of shinny silver dollars. I look over at Rusty, my eyes asking him if Danny had gotten the number right and watch as he nods slowly.

"There's twelve of us; each with an equal share." Danny raises his glass of scotch and smiles at us, "You do the math."

"I have a question." Saul announces as we all look over at him, curiously, "Say we get into the cage and through the security doors there and down the elevator we can't move and passed the guards with the guns and into the vault we can't open. Say we do all that; we're supposed to just walk out with that money without getting caught?"

We all turn back to Danny and watch him, waiting for his answer. I wanted to smirk so badly, throw it in his face, but I didn't. I cross my arms over my chest and wait patiently.

"Uh, yeah." Danny confirms with a calm expression, looking over at Rusty and me. To him it was the easiest answer.

"Oh...okay." Saul nods his head and the room becomes silent again. I look back at Danny and blink several times with a smile.

"Now, the first task is knowing what's happening; the rotation of the dealers, the path of every cash cart, everything, every guard and watcher. I want to know where they're from, what their nicknames are, how they take their coffee. Most of all. I want you guys to know these casinos. I want you guys to know the quick routes out." Danny explains, turning off the TV, " Second task is power. Basher this is your show."

"Right. Broke, blind, or Bedler?" Basher asks, rearranging himself on the couch he was on beside Yen.

"All of the above." I speak up, running a hand through my hair, "More commotion we cause the better our chances for escape are."

"Right, now third task is surveillance. Lawrence that's you." Danny points to Lawrence and moves on, "Fourth task; construction. We need to build an exact working replica of the Bellagio to practice. Fifth; intelligence. Sixth; transport. Seventh; outfits. That's you Sam."

"Already started." I reply and smile at him. I nod my head in Saul's direction, "Saul and I just have to hit Klein's and get him into a suit."

"Good. Tomorrow I want everyone at the casinos keeping tabs on every worker you see." Danny looks around at all of us, "Goodnight gentlemen...and lady."

Danny walks away as the rest of us begin to stand up. I look over at Rusty and notice the familiar look of him having something to ask me.

"What?" I ask as I walk closer to him, the twins standing up from the couch. Rusty shakes his head and waves me off, crossing his arms, "What is it?"

"Nothin'." He replies and gives me a smile. I arch an eyebrow at him and cross my own arms. He keeps silent and then stand from his seat on the arm of the chair.

"Fine. Night." I walk away and head towards Basher, "See you later."

I give him a hug and then move on to Frank and Saul, wishing them both a good night. I head out the front door and into the chilly night. I stop in the driveway as a realization sets in on me.

"How am I getting to the hotel?" I ask myself quietly as I hear the roar of an engine. I watch as Rusty pulls up in his convertible with a smart ass smirk on his lips.

"I was wondering when you would remember I was your ride home. Get in." He calls out as he leans back in his seat. I scoff and look to my right at nothing, not wanting to look at him. I look back at him and take a deep breath, pretending to think over the situation, "I'll buy you breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes sound good?"

I couldn't help but smile and walk to the car, hopping into the passengers seat.

"I knew you couldn't resist." He laughs as we take off down the street.


	6. Balloon Boy and The Honeymooners

**}{Seas of Change}{**

Today Reuben's house was silent with nearly everyone gone to do their 'part'. It had been four days since the 'party' and today I stood in the living room, staring at the man before me as I tried to think of what more I could do to him. I sigh heavily and pick up the cowboy hat from the coffee table. I place it on his head and then look him over again, feeling as though something was just missing.

"So, I'm supposed to be a balloon boy?" Virgil asks as I laugh and nod my head, looking him over again. I know there's something missing.

"Yeah, Russ is gonna meet us outside and tell us what to do." I state and look over at Turk who sat on the couch. I point at him and smile, "Then you and I are gonna play newlyweds and we're gonna bump into each other. Play the old, angry ex meets jealous husband."

"Sounds good to me." Turk speaks up and stands from the couch, placing his hands on his hips as he stares at his brother, "At least I don't have to dress like this."

"You're just happy because you get to pretend you have a hot girlfriend for once." Virgil teases his brother and looks over at me. I can't help but laugh again as I fix his hat and bite my bottom lip, trying to quiet my laughter.

"I've had hot girlfriends." Turk speaks up, staring his brother down or well up since Virgil was taller.

"Oh yeah? Name one." Virgil retorts, but only earns a punch in the arm from Turk. I laugh again and shake my head/ It reminded me a lot of how Rusty and I had acted when we were younger. Before our mother had died.

"Why did I have to be the balloon boy?" Virgil shakes his head and looks down at me.

"I have a thing for blondes. Sorry, Bill Nye." I return and pick up my purse from the chair. I look between the two and smile, pushing my sunglasses on top of my head to keep my blonde hair from falling into my face. I look back at Virgil again, feeling bad for him, and walk away with a laugh.

It had gotten darker out, seeing as it was late in the evening. We pull up at the hotel and I spot Rusty waiting for us in the parking lot, leaning against his convertible with the balloons in the back seat.

"Damn, that's what I forgot." I pipe up as we hop out of the cab we had taken. I knew I had forgotten something. What good was a balloon boy without balloons? We walk over to Rusty and he hands the balloons to Virgil. We were careful of who was around for fear of being caught and having the whole operation ruined.

"Alright, we've only got a little while so make it worth it." Russ hands me the phony wedding rings and I can't help but groan.

"Ew, they're yellow gold." I complain as I hand one to Turk and then quickly place mine on.

"What's wrong with yellow gold?" Rusty asks and stares at me strangely.

"White gold is so much nicer to look at." I explain as he starts shaking his head while pushing me in the direction the Bellagio was. The boys and I walk into the casino and are instantly greeted with flashing lights and loud noises that only a casino could have. Virgil walks off in one direction as Turk and I wander in another.

"This ring is so disgusting." I comment and turn the ring on my finger around again. I let my hand drop to my side as I look out over the casino.

"Lets head towards the slots sweetheart." Turk smiles at me and wraps an arm around my waist, leading me towards our destination through the crowd of people. I spot the balloons in the air as Virgil walks around and then see him heading towards the camera we needed to block. I pull away from Turk and walk to the right as he continues on and bumps into his brother.

"Watch it bud." Virgil starts the confrontation and lets go of the balloons. They float towards the ceiling and blocked the security camera we needed blocked.

"Who you callin' bud, pal?" Turk asks back and pokes Virgil in the chest.

"Who you callin' pal, friend?" Virgil pokes Turk back.

"Who you callin' friend, jackass?"

"Don't call me a jackass, jackasss!"

"I just did call you a jackass!" I give a small laugh at Turk's reply and walk around the slot machines, waiting for my cue. I look up at the balloons as people look back at the twins, whispering under their breath about them. I try to hold back my smile and shake my head, looking back at where the two were arguing.

"Sir." I see a security guard walk over to the twins and began to follow. The guard was part of the plan. We needed him to get away from the door to the back room so Livingston could go to work.

"Babe?" I walk up behind Turk and tug on his shirt lightly.

"I wasn't in your face!" Virgil snaps, his cowboy hat rocking back and forth on his head.

"Yeah, you were!" Turk yells back at Virgil while the security guard tries to get their attention.

"Sir, you're going to have to move the balloons." The security guards says while I place a hand on Turk's shoulder and take a quick look at Virgil.

"Babe, come on. We're gonna be late." I speak up, trying to pull Turk away gently. Turk starts to give in to my request and soon we begin walking away.

"Yeah get out of here, jackass! You and your tart don't want to miss your pity fuck!" Virgil shouts out after us. Turk suddenly stops us and with wide eyes I look up at him. That was a little too much. Turk snaps around and stalks up to Virgil.

"Don't talk that way in front of my wife!" Turk punches him in the jaw and Virgil falls to the ground. I could see that the punch wasn't too hard, just hard enough. It was the most fake thing in the world, but they had gotten good the last couple of days of practicing and it looked believable. The people that stood around watching gasped as the blow to Virgil. Virgil quickly got up and shoved Turk as hard and as fake as he could.

"Oh that's your wife huh!" Virgil looks over at me, his face suddenly twisting. He lets his arms fall to his sides and shakes his head slightly, "Sandy?"

"Hi Vick." I return softly and look at him. I give him a small smile as he looks between Turk and me, surprise on his face. He points to Turk, trying to act completely shell shocked.

"You're with this asshole!" He asks suddenly and points to Turk.

"Who you callin' an asshole, asshole!" Turk snaps and shoves Virgil a little.

"Sir, move you're balloons!" The security guard speaks up again, unsure of what to do about the situation. I could see him look over the crowd of people in search of more security guards that could lend a hand, but found none.

"I was just trying to deliver my balloons and roid rage here got in my way!" Virgil shouts, staring at Turk. Turk suddenly bursts out laughing and points at Virgil.

"You're a balloon boy! No wonder Sandy left you!" He laughs again as I look between the two. This wasn't part of the rehearsal we had done. Virgil was supposed to just take the balloons and walk away. Turk laughs again and points at Virgil, "Balloon boy, balloon boy!"

"Babe stop." I say as place my left hand on Turk's chest, exposing my ring.

"You're really married to this clown!" Virgil yells at me, his eyes going from the ring to me. I look back at him sheepishly and throw my hand down to hide the ring.

"Move the balloons sir."

"How could you marry this ass! I loved you and you leave me for him!" Virgil bursts out as I feel Turk push me behind him.

"You cheated on her! You never loved her!" Turk shouts back and shoves Virgil a little.

"I did too!" Virgil calls back and shoves Turk.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Sir! Move your balloons!" The security guard shouts above the two, earning a look from each of us, "I'm going to need you to move those balloons **now**."

"You need me to move the balloons? I'll move the balloons cause sir I have a very important client waiting for this delivery." Virgil starts and takes the balloons from the ceiling, "And I don't have time to be fooling around with you circus animals. Sandy, when this joker leaves you don't come crying to me!"

Turk and I exchange a glance and then suddenly he takes off, pretending to go after Virgil. I follow behind him and soon we're out the front doors of The Bellagio; mission accomplished. We walk down he sidewalk together, Virgil coming up from behind us.

"That was fun. I liked the whole 'did not, did too' act. Nice improv." I say as we walk down the street, passing casinos and restaurants, "Good movie punch too, but the whole 'tart' and 'pity fuck' thin was a little overboard."

"Yeah, sorry about that. What should I do with these?" Virgil asks as he tugs on the ribbon to the balloons.

"Let 'em go." Turk replies as we stop by fountain. I look at him and shake my head.

"What? No." I laugh and move to Virgil. I pluck a balloon from the bunch and wrap the ribbon around my hand a few times, "Now you can."

Virgil let go of the ribbons and slowly we watch as the balloons fly off into the night. I move closer to the fountain and lean on the railing, staring out at the waters. Turk moves to one side of me and Virgil takes the other, each of us quiet.

"So how did you get started in this?" Virgil pipes up, leaning his back against the railing and taking off his hat. I give a small shrug and play with the ribbon of the balloon I have.

"Well, I kind of fell into it like Rusty." I start and look at the fountain as the water shot up and lights danced upon its glassy surface, "He kind of got me started in it when I was pretty young."

"Okay, you and Rusty. What's up with that?" Turk cuts in, lacing his hands over the railing he leaned on. I look over at him and knit my eybrows together.

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused by what he was talking about.

"Is he like your ex or something?" He clarifies, earning a groan of disgust from me. Not how I wanted to see me and my brother.

"Oh my God, no!" I laugh and shake my head.

"So...what then?" Turk tries to encourage me to go into detail. I look at him and then at Virgil, seeing that they both were interested.

"Why would I tell you two? I barely know you." I laugh softly.

"Because as your husband I think I have a right to know." Turk returns with a smirk, showing the ring on his finger. I scoff and take his hand, pulling the ring off before taking the one on my hand off as well. I throw them into the water below us, leaning on the railing again.

"Because we're cute?" Virgil tries and I try to hold back my laughter, looking to the starry sky. These two were funny. I liked them. I take a deep breath and groan, giving into them.

"Fine. He's my older brother." I admit, looking between them.

"Knew it. Pay up." Virgil outstretches his hand in front of me towards Turk. I laugh again and watch as Turk places a twenty in his brother's hand.

"Oh and here I thought you two actually wanted to know about me." I pretend to act upset, pushing myself from the railing and walking down the sidewalk again. Turk and Virgil follow, taking up walking on either side of me.

"Why did you think we were _involved_ with each other?" I ask and look over at Turk and then at Virgil. They both give a small shrug.

"The way you two act around each other. It doesn't exactly say 'siblings'." Virgil answers for them, making me look back over at him again. I look back before me, watching the people we pass, and thinking over what he had said.

"Maybe because he basically raised me." I speak up softly, trying to find a reason, "That kind of responsibility changes things. When you have to raise your younger sibling it takes away that brotherly bond."

I could feel the twins staring at me, but ignored them. They were completely right. Robert and I didn't act like siblings. We used to. Most of the time we still do, but there's moments where he acts like my father. All that training I guess.

"He raised you?" Virgil asks and looks over at me again. I nod my head and shove my hands into my pockets, the ribbon of the balloon following.

"Our mom was murdered when I was eight and Rusty became my guardian to keep me out of foster care." I explain and look out at the streets of Las Vegas. It was a magical place; bright lights, loud music, people walking around without knowing what time of day or night it was.

"Where was your dad?" Turk asks and shoves his own hands into his pockets. I look over at him, taking a deep breath, and then shrug while I sigh.

"I don't know. He's where we got our thieving ways from though." I reply. I honestly didn't know. Rusty never liked to talk about him either. He only told me that a year after I was born he left and never came back, "Rusty and I grew close, but then I wanted a normal life. I got out of this crime world and started playing the violin professionally. Rusty and I kind of grew apart after that."

The air fell silent between us as we continued to walk along the sidewalk. I could hear fireworks going off somewhere, but couldn't see them in the sky. I could hear laughing and see people walking the streets. Whole families together on a family vacation. That's what I wanted.

"Is that why you took this job? To be closer to Rusty?" Turk's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I look over at him and for a moment just stare into his stormy blue eyes. He stares back at me, a look I couldn't describe on his face. It looked sympathetic, almost caring as if he understood or was trying to understand. I knew that couldn't be right. After all I had just met these two.

"Maybe." I reply and look down at the ground beneath my feet, not wanting to see his look any longer. It made me feel uneasy, small. I give a smile and look back up in front of me, "Or maybe I just couldn't take falling off of stages anymore."

"I knew it was you when you hit your head on the table, I knew it." Turk laughs and shakes his head, looking back ahead of him.

"How did me hitting my head remind you of falling off a stage?" I ask and look from him to Virgil, giving Virg a small smile.

"It's a gift." Virgil answers for Turk.

"You're just jealous." Turk replies, but Virgil only gives a shrug in reply. I laugh and look back ahead of myself. I really did like these two.


	7. Construction

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

_ }{~Two Days Later~}{_

"Wait which one?" Turk asks and takes a quick glance at me.

"The one in Sweden." I laugh and hop onto the side of the door, holding onto it tightly as Turk began to drive off through the warehouse.

"Oh yeah! I think I heard about that one. Guy fell off a mountain or something." Turk replies as we drive through the warehouse on the bobcat loader. I hang on tightly to the side of the bobcat as he turns left and right rather harshly. Today we were beginning to work on the working replica of the vault, for practice purposes...or something like that.

"You think or you did?" I call back over the construction that was going on.

"Hang on." Turk lifts his head a little to look down at the ground below the bobcat and then jerks it to the right, nearly making me fly off, "Both!"

I laugh at his reply and hop off the bobcat as he slows to a stop. I walk over to one of the unopened crates and pick up the crowbar, handing it to Turk. He jams the crowbar between the lid of one of the crates and wedges it further, cranking it up and down to open it, "So why'd they nickname you 'The Creationist'?"

"Why did they nickname you 'The Getaway'?" I counter and sit on top of a crate beside him, waiting for the lid he was working on to come off.

"Because I am 'The Getaway'." He grunts a little, pushing down on the crowbar that seemed to do nothing with getting the lid off the crate.

"Yeah and I'm 'The Creationist'." I laugh and cross my legs, leaning on my knee. I watch him carefully as he works, studying him from head to foot and then back up again. Turk hands me the crowbar and then moves back to the lid.

"I drive the getaway cars usually." He pulls the lid from the crate and sets it off to the side. I give a small laugh and hop off of the crate I sat on.

"Yeah, like I didn't already know that." I lie the crowbar where I had sat, moving to the other side of the crate Turk was reaching into. I watch as he pulls out several metal containers and hands one to me. I struggle with it a little and set it on the ground by the nearest table, walking back and taking another.

"You and Virgil always the muscle?" I ask as I walk back and wait for him to hand me another container. Turk reaches back into the crate, pulling out another container.

"Yeah, why?" He asks as he hands me another container. I walk over to the small stack I had begun and placed the container on top.

"No reason." I reply honestly as I walk back. I watch as he lifts another container out of the crate and holds it, staring at me, "What?"

"Nothing." He shakes his head and walks over to the stack, placing the container he held on top. I watch as he moves to the next crate, wedging the crowbar between the lid and the rest of it. He grunts as he fights with the lid on the crate, making me smile a little. I watch him fight with the crate and then arch an eyebrow.

"You want some help?" I ask after another moment of watching him struggle.

"Can't have you breaking a nail or something Princess." Turk replies with, earning a surprised look from me. It turns into annoyance and I quickly snatch the crowbar from him. I jam it as hard as I can between the lid and the rest of the crate. I quickly push it down and the lid pops off with the 'crack' from the nails and wood. I turn back to him and outstretch the crowbar to him, batting my eyelashes and smiling.

"Don't call me, Princess" I say as sweetly as I can, but with a scary after bite. He takes the crowbar from me and throws it to the ground. He narrows his eyes at me and then shakes his head.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." He comments and moves to the open crate. I feel tingles in my hands at his words and cross my arms over my chest to try and ignore them.

"And what would that be?" I laugh slightly and move to the side of the empty crate, leaning back on it.

"You're not afraid of a little hard work or getting dirty." Turk nods his head at me and I look down at myself, seeing the grease smudges on my jeans that were already ruined by paint blotches, "My kind of girl."

I look back at him and smile, shrugging before looking about the warehouse at what everyone else was doing. I look back at Turk and watch him. He told me about his nickname, the least I could do was tell him about mine.

"I create things." I spoke up after a long moment and take a quick glance at Turk. I could tell by the look on his face that he was surprised I said anything at all about the subject I had avoided.

"What sort of things?" He returns, pulling out a small box from the second opened crate. I give a small shrug and move closer, recrossing my arms over my chest.

"Like outfits and persona's and things. Hence; The Creationist." Turk nods his head and pulls out another small box from inside the crate, handing it to me.

"Thought it might be because you play an instrument. Creating music." Turk admits as we begin carrying the small boxes over to where Frank was by a saw, "And falling off of stages."

"That happened once and I was tripped by the cellist." I smile at him and place the boxes I had carried on top of his he had set on the ground. We walk back over to the opened crates where more small boxes sat and picked up new stacks.

"So the balloon boy...?" Turk asks, looking over at me. I give a small shrug and sort of nod my head sheepishly.

"Yeah, that was kind of all my idea. Don't tell Virgil though. I'd rather he didn't have a reason to hate me. " I laugh and lie my boxes on the stack by Frank.

"No one could hate you." Turk laughs as we head towards the conveyor belt.

"Why's that?" I ask, honestly not knowing how people _couldn't _hate me.

"You're a sweetheart." Turk replies with a smile as we spot Virgil. I slow down behind him and stare at him as he walks around the belt to stand across from his brother. That was the strangest thing anyone has ever described me with; sweetheart. I mean, I've been called sweet before, but the way Turk had said it...

"Hey Sam. Keeping my brother in line?" Virgil asks with a small grin, catching my attention. Turk curses under his breath and hits Virgil in the arm, making me laugh.

"Nah, he's a good guy Virg." I reply with a small smile and walk down the belt to stand across it from Rusty. I start to help him push the first box that had come of the truck that had just pulled in as it lands on the belt.

"Having fun, Sammy?" Rusty asks, earning my attention. I think about the question a moment and then smile at him.

"Yeah. I am actually." I return and look back at the truck.

We go through several more as I start to feel like I was being watched. I look down the belt, seeing Virgil and Turk arguing about only God knows what, and then look at Rusty across from me. He looks up from, the box that landed in front of us, wanting to know why I had stopped helping. I shake my head and help him push the box to the twins and then look around the warehouse.

My eyes land on Danny, who was talking to Linus, and then on Yen, who was carrying several canisters of paint on his head. I look over at Basher, who was sitting on the ground welding something, and then look at Lawrence by his computers. I shook off my feeling and went back to my work, becoming engrossed once more.

After a few more boxes I get the feeling again and look at Rusty as we push another box along. He meets my gaze and gives a small smile before turning back to the truck.

"Why don't you stop being such a wuss..?" I hear Virgil snap softly.

"I'm not being a wuss...!" Turk snaps back.

"Then just say something...!"

"Hello...! Rusty's standing right there...!"

"Who cares...!"

"Dude, just shut up...! Shut up...!" My eyes land on Turk and I watch as he hits Virgil's shoulder, "Stop talking before someone hears you...!"

Virgil is about to say something back, but notices me. He nods his head at me, holding his shoulder where Turk had hit him, and smiles sheepishly.

"Sam's looking at us..." Virgil whispers, trying not to move his lips. Turk looks over at me and gives me the same sheepish smile Virgil was. Then gives a small wave.

"...Hey Sam!" Turk calls out and I just stare for a long moment, slightly bewildered and also amused by the two. I nod my head at them in return and give then a small sarcastic smile, looking back at the truck to my right.

"What'd you hit me for this time...!" Virgil's voice floated to my ears.

"That was your fault...!"

"Me...! You're the loud mouth...!" I listen to the two bickering again and then spot Frank waving at me to come over. I stare at him a moment and then notice the scary annoyed look in his eye, figuring I had better see what was wrong.

"I'm gonna go help Frank." I announce, standing rooted to my spot.

"Alright." Rusty replies as I start to walk around the belt and over to where Frank stood by the saw. I approach slowly, unsure of what was wrong.

"You needed something?" I ask carefully as I walk up to him. He nods his head and stares down at me, rubbing his chin.

"You see those two boys? Them two by the belt? The one's that...don't...stop...arguin'?" Frank asks, pointing to Virgil and Turk, who had begun pushing each other again and yelling. I nod my head and look back at him, unsure of where he was going with this.

"What about them?" I ask with a small smile, not understanding why he was so upset with them. I thought they were great. Actually I liked the entire team Danny and Rusty had put together.

"Alright, now I gotta hit the car dealer with them two tomorrow and if I gotta listen to **that**," Frank nods his head at the twins and then looks back down at me, "the entire time, someone is gonna end up in Milwaukee with two busted knees and a concussion, not knowin' who the Hell they are."

I stare at Frank, feeling laughter build up inside of me at how angry he was at the moment. I nod my head slowly and take a deep breath, trying to figure out how to respond. One thing that came to mind was, 'He should never have kids'.

"...what do you want me to do?" I ask gently, blinking several times and trying to hold back a grin. Frank rubs a hand over his mouth and points at me and then himself with his pointer and pinkie.

"You're comin' with me to babysit those clowns." I look back over at Turk and Virgil, seeing Virgil in a headlock and as Turk gives him a noogie. I then look back at Frank, biting my bottom lip.

"Yeah...see I don't th-"

"You'd better just say yes and walk away. Yes...and walk away, baby girl. That's the only way to avoid bloodshed." Frank cut me off, staring down at me with a hard gaze. I think for a moment about what he had just said and slowly nod my head, thinking that it might actually be fun to hit the dealership with him and twins. It's a lot better then what Rusty had planned for me.

I turn on my heels and walk back to the belt. I begin helping Rusty with pushing boxes again, feeling my laughter climbing up my throat. I look between Frank by his saw and the twins arguing further down the belt, wanting so badly to laugh.

"What did Frank want?" Rusty asks and that's all it took. I burst out laughing as I help him push along another box and shake my head, unable to respond any other way. I spot Frank turn around from the saw and point the two by four he was holding at me.

"Oh I know you ain't laughing at me, Samantha Marie Ryan!" Frank calls out waves the board as I look back over at him and laugh harder, placing a hand on my stomach.

"Hey Turk! Virgil! I think Frank could use your help!" I call down to them and then look back at Frank, knowing I had just made it worse. But hell it was funny. I try to quiet myself down and fail miserably, deciding I could use some fresh air.

"Hey, where you goin'!" I start to walk away from the belt, hearing Frank calling after me, "What? No! I don't need your twos help! Go back to the belt! Get! Go on!"

I walk outside and lean against the side of the warehouse. I close my eyes and begin to laugh louder and harder then I could ever remember doing before. I slid down the warehouse wall and sit on the hard concrete, knees bent. I could feel my eyes watering and my belly aching, but I continued to laugh.

Yeah, this felt like home.


	8. Nicknames

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

Today I was out with Frank and the twins, hoping to find some vans for our upcoming 'job'. I sit in the back of the car Rusty had rented for us and beside Virgil, who was arguing with Turk about something. I turn to my window and stare out as we pass several stores and restaurants, not paying attention anymore to the men in the car. The testosterone was suffocating me.

We had already been to several dealers and none seemed to have what we needed. Though I honestly had no idea what it was that we needed. Cars weren't my specialty. That's why 'The Getaways' were with us. I was only the babysitter, but it sure beat going with Rusty to the warehouse to work on the vault.

"I swear if you two don't stop I'm gonna smack both of you so hard it'll make your heads spin round!" Frank calls out, making me look around the car at what was going on. I look at Virgil on my right and then to the passengers seat diagonal from me where Turk sat. They were both quiet now and it made me laugh softly as I shook my head.

"Boys will be boys, Frank." I whisper to myself while Frank huffs and mumbles something under his breath about the twins and clowns. Frank turns on the radio as I lean back into my seat and close my eyes, feeling exhausted. I listened to classic rock as it floated through the speakers and then yawned.

None of us had left the warehouse until late last night, leaving us with little time to sleep. The fact that we had left early this morning in our search of the perfect van didn't help and neither did the cappuccinos I had drunk. This was part of this job that I didn't miss at all. I rather liked sleep and I was used to sleeping in.

I feel myself drifting off, the small bounces of the car soothing me like a lullaby. I yawn and lean myself against the door on my left, allowing myself to fall asleep. It wasn't a deep sleep or anything and most the time I could hear the twins as they bickered and as Frank told them to shut up or he'd do something or other to them.

After what seemed like an hour, I feel the car come to a stop and listen as the engine is shut off. I hear someone move around in their seat, the leather screeching with them.

"Someone wake her up." I hear Frank's voice and then shuffling as I start to wake up on my own. I hear more movement and more leather screeching.

"Why can't we just let her sleep?" Turk's voice asks softly, "She doesn't really need to come look at the vans with us."

"Because you two need a babysitter and that's what she's here for. To babysit you two circus clowns." Frank snaps and then slams his door shut.

"You want to or you want me to?" Virgil asks as I hear someone unlatch their seatbelt.

"She's on _your_ shoulder." Turk replies and I try and recognize what I am lying against.

"Yeah, well she's **your** girlfriend."

"Shut up. No she's not."

"Yeah, you're right, but you wish she was."

"I do not."

"You two can't spend a minute apart. Come on, you like each other. It's obvious." The car falls silent after Virgil's comment. I hear the leather screech again and someone sigh.

"You really think she likes me?" Turk asks softly, his voice seeming sincere.

"Haha, I knew you liked her." Virgil laughs as another seatbelt is unlatched, "Is it really so hard for you to admit it?"

"Shut up." Turk snaps as I hear his door open," I don't like her like that."

"Okay, I think I've heard enough for one day." I speak up and sit up straighter in my seat. I open my eyes and look at the two before I unlatch my seatbelt. I open my door and step out of the car, stretching to try and wake myself up. I hear the other car doors slam shut and look over the top of the car at the boys, who were now shoving each other.

"Would you two stop already?" I pipe up, looking over at them, "I didn't even hear what you two were mumbling about."

"Yes she did." Virgil comments and smirks at Turk.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Turk shouts and shoves Virgil. I shake my head at them and look around the dealership lot we had pulled into. It was small and it looked like one of the places where you'd get scammed easily, but the cars didn't look C-class or anything. Some of them actually looked pretty nice. Barley used at all.

I walk around the car and pull the sunglasses from the top of my head over my eyes. I stare at the two and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for them to finish their fight.

"Are we ready now?" I ask as they pull apart from each other. They look at me and I feel a smile making its way to my lips, "I like both of you the same. Now play nice children."

I walk to Turk and pull the sunglasses out of his jacket, placing them on his head and then move to Virgil. I fix his messy hair and then turn on my heels, starting to search for a van. We had walked around the lot nearly twice, nothing seeming to be what we needed. I stop and lean against a pale blue civic, feeling my stomach grumble. The twins walk passed me and then stop as Virgil points to a white van off in the corner.

"Hey, look at this one." Virgil speaks up as he opens the back doors of the van and steps up on it, Turk following. I watch as they start to bounce the car up and down, a laugh erupting from my throat at the sight of the two adults that acted like kids.

"Having fun?" I ask as they bounce the van more. Turk looks back at me while his hair flops up and down. He smiles at me and then gives a laugh.

"We're testing it." He calls back and I arch an eyebrow.

"For what?" I push myself off of the civic and walk closer, watching the van bounce.

"Don't know." Virgil shouts back with a smile.

"Hey, you try." Turk jumps off of the van and pulls me towards the open back doors.

"What? No!" I laugh and try to fight against him. He places a hand behind my back as Virgil stops bouncing, "No! No! I'll fall and hurt myself!"

"Stop being such a girl! You girly girl!" Virgil calls out with a smile as Turk helps me onto the back of the van, placing an unnecessary hand on my butt.

"I know that was on purpose." I call out to him and look over my should. I hold on to the van tightly, feeling as though I would fall off any minute.

"I couldn't help myself." Turk replies with a smirk, his shades covering his eyes. He looks over at Virgil and nods his head, "Alright, ready."

I close my eyes tightly as Virgil starts to bounce the van, gripping whatever I could tightly to keep myself from falling. I feel my hair bounce up and down against my back and start to laugh. The two may fight a lot and they may annoy everyone with their fighting, but they were fun and I felt them growing on me the more time I spent with them.

"Ah! I'm slipping! I'm going to fall!" I call out as feel myself fall backwards. I land in Turk's arms, his arms under my armpits, my butt nearly touching the pavement. I start to laugh uncontrollably as Turk sets me the ground fully. Virgil hops off the van and I look at both of them, a bright smile cemented on my face, "Told you I'd fall."

"Yeah, but you didn't get hurt." Turk returns with and outstretches his hands to me. I take them and he pulls me up, placing his hands into his jacket pockets. I nod my head at them and laugh lightly again, arms akimbo.

"Thanks for that." I look back at him and straighten myself out, pushing my sunglasses to the top of my head.

"You didn't think we'd purposely get you hurt did you?" Virgil asks, closing the door of the van. I felt my smile falter and gave a small shrug, unsure of the answer. Virgil shakes his head and makes a dramatic sigh as though hurt, "I don't believe this. After everything we've been through together. Such betrayal."

"Yeah, we don't need this abuse." Turk laughs and lightly backhands Virgil on the arm playfully.

"Oh, you two suck. You know that?" I laugh and cross my arms over my chest.

"Alright, we got 'em." Frank walks up to us and rubs his hands together greedily as he smiles at each of us, "Mission complete."

"Good because I'm starving. Can we please go get some lunch now?" I ask with a smile, taking my sunglasses from my head and placing them over my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, alright." Frank agrees, "You two clowns are driving the van. I can't stand to listen to you argue anymore. Come on baby girl."

"Sam's coming with us." Turk speaks up as Frank stares him down.

"Nu-uh goldie locks." Frank tosses Virgil the keys to the van and then starts heading back towards the car we had come in.

"Nice try Turk." I laugh and look back at the two.

"Why does he call you baby girl?" Virgil asks as Turk stares at where Frank had gone, mumbling about being called goldie locks.

"All my friends kinda got a different nicknames for me." I shrug and push my hands into my jean pockets, "Kind of like making the friendship official or something since I'm the only girl in the group."

"Oh, so we should think of a nickname for you then?" Virgil asks, more to himself then to me. I laugh and look down at the ground. I wasn't sure if we were friends yet, but I couldn't just say that to them. I wasn't that mean.

"I got one." Turk speaks up, looking between me and Virgil. He quickly snatches the keys from his brother as I stare at him confused.

"What is it?" I ask as he dangles the keys in Virgil's face.

"Sweetheart." Turk replies as if that had been my name for years.

"That's your nickname for her? Sweetheart?" Virgil asks and snatches the keys back, "Why not just call her **corny** and be done with it?"

"Well I don't see you coming up with a better one." Turk shoots back, snatching the keys away from Virgil once more. I think about the nickname a moment, testing it out in my head. The more I said it the better I liked it and the more natural it felt.

"I like it." I break into their argument, smiling at them, "Virg, what's yours?"

"It doesn't just come on demand." Virgil tries to buy time and I watch as he struggles, "...Sammy?"

"Only Rusty calls me that." I laugh and watch as he tries to think of another.

"Okay, how about since you laugh so much; Giggles." I slowly shake my head and smile.

"That's Basher's."

"Tinkerbell then."

"Danny's."

"Someone actually calls you Tinkerbell?" Turk cuts in, staring at me through his sunglasses.

"Because he says I stick my nose in other people's business a lot. Mainly his because he always gets caught." I return and watch Virgil, feeling sorry for shooting down the names he had come up with, "Okay, let me help you. Things you can't call me; Tinkerbell, Giggles, baby girl or baby anything, sweetheart, doll face, and Sammy."

"Got a list of things I **can **call you?"

"Nope, sorry." He scoffs a little and puts his hands on his hips.

"Bunny?" I stare at him blankly and then slowly turn on me heels, "Tweety? Carebear?"

"Keep thinking!" I shout back at him and head to the car and Frank. I seat myself in the passenger's side and belt myself in.

"So, you like those two huh?" Frank asks as we pull out of the dealership. I look over at him, finding the question odd and nod slowly.

"Yeah. They're a lot of fun and they're nice." I reply with a smile.

"Fun and nice guys..." Frank mumbles something under his breath about fun and nice, "You wanna know who's fun and nice? Lawrence. God knows that boy needs a girl and a nice girl too. Like you. You'd be great together."

"I didn't say I want to date either of them!" I laugh lightly and shake my head, looking out my window.

"Yeah, but you didn't say you didn't want to either." Frank replies and gives a small scoff. I ignore him and look in the rear view mirror, spotting Turk sitting in the passenger's seat of the van. I feel myself smile inwardly and I bite my bottom lip, "I think they got a thing for you, baby girl."

I look over at Frank as we pull up to a red light.

"What?" I ask, confused by what he meant. Frank looks over at me with a 'you know what' gaze, "What are you talking about?"

"I notice the way they look at you, especially that goldie locks Turk. Thinks he can get with you. He's got another thing coming if he thinks for one minute about-"

"Frank!" I laugh lightly and shake my head as the car starts moving again. I look back in the rear view mirror at Turk and Virgil in the van, "We just all get along well."

"Well I know what I see..." Frank mumbles and looks back out the windshield as I continue to watch Turk in the van behind us. I steal a glance at Frank, wondering about what he had said. I look back at the rear view mirror and smile, inwardly cursing myself for believing, even for a second, what Frank had said as true.


	9. Meet Sonya Zerga

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Are you ready?" I ask softly and look to my right at Saul in his nice Italian silk suit. Danny had told me to make sure Saul was alright, to make sure he was going to go through with his part, but I felt like I was talking down at him in a way.

"Samantha..." Saul's tone warns me not to ask that question again and I smile softly at him, nodding my head. I was grateful that he was put together because God knows I wasn't.

"Okay. That makes one of us..." I pat his arm gently and look back out the window of the car we were in as it pulls up to the Bellagio. I look around at all the people and swallow the lump in my throat, nervousness overcoming me. I was 'The Creationist'. I created persona's for others, never for myself, but here I was about put one of my most recent creations to use.

I watch as the car door opens beside me and a hand lies before my face, waiting for me to take. I don't want to. I really don't want to, but slowly I reach out my hand and take Turk's, gripping it tightly. He helps me stand and I look around, feeling nervousness overcome me.

"We're here Misses Zerga." He smiles and shuts the door behind me, letting my hand go. I straighten out the revealing black dress I was wearing and take a deep breath. My heart beat unsteadily and my hands shook slightly. Turk opens the trunk of the car and looks over at me, laughing a little at my expression, "Since when do you get stage fright?"

"Always." I look over at him and go to say something more, but shut my mouth tightly. I examine Turk in his black suit, the one I had picked out for him and Virgil. They were playing bodyguards today and needed to look the part.

"Hey Virg?" Turk calls to his brother and then whispers to him.

"Really?" Virgil asks and looks over at me. He whispers something back to Turk and then nods his head, walking off. Turk walks over to me, taking off his dark sunglasses and placing them in the front pocket of his black suit.

"You alright?" He asks gently, looking at me as though confused with my behavior. To everyone else I was the outgoing, laughing, blonde, who always volunteered to do whatever came along without questions. That was when I knew everyone and they knew me, but this, here, was far out of my comfort zone. I knew not one of these people and they didn't know me and to make it even worse I had to pretend to be someone else; someone who never existed at all.

"I make persona's, not play them Turk..." I whisper, trying to keep my eyes off of all the people around us. My eyes lock with several people who were staring at me and whispering amongst each other. I look to the ground and shake my head, "Everyone's staring at me..."

"Yeah they are. Because you're **smoking hot** Sam." Turk gives a small laugh and crosses his arms, staring at me as if it was the easiest thing to understand. If it had been another time I would have hugged him for the compliment, but not this time. I was too frazzled.

"Turk, I can't pull this off. I just...I can't." Turk drops his arms and rubs a hand over his mouth. I could see he was trying to think of what to say, the right words to put together to help me, but was coming up short.

"Okay, think of this as a play. You're basically just lying. That's all acting is really. You can act." Turk suggests and gives a shrug.

"I can't lie worth crap...!" I hiss and rock my right leg on the heel of the shoes I wore, "...and I can't act either...!"

"Then think of it as one of your concerts." Turk tries again as Virgil starts unloading the trunk, taking one piece of luggage out at a time and setting it on the ground.

"I can't..." I whisper. Turk looks to Virgil and then takes one of my hands, leading me away from the bustling.

"Why not?" Turk's eyebrows knit together in question and I feel myself rocking on my heels more.

"Because at concerts I loose myself in the music and I keep my eyes closed until the end." I explain, taking a deep breath as I feel my stomach churning.

"Wait, what do you mean you_ '_loose yourself' in the music?"

"I'm constantly thinking of each note I'm about to play next. I see it almost." I respond and look at all the people around, noticing them looking at me and whispering.

"Hum one of your songs."

"What...!" I stare at him as if he was crazy. He wants me to hum now? Of all times? I was having a near panic attack and I was supposed to hum for him?

"Hum a song." Turk returns with and notices I still wasn't understanding, "Alright look, you hum a song and think of the next move you're going to make **here**. The next move Sonya is going to take."

"I don't know..." I whisper and start to cross my arms over my chest in a familiar habit of security. Turk catches me by the wrists and holds them between us. I stare into his stormy blue eyes and swallow hard, "I feel like I'm gonna pass out."

"You're not going to pass out, Sam." Turk assures me and moves his hands from around my wrists to hold my hands.

"Hey! Are we going?" Turk and I look to Virgil, who stood with Saul and the luggage, "Come on you two sick love birds! Confess your deepest, darkest love for each other later!"

"If you ever speak like that again, Virgil Malloy, you will not wake up the following morning." Saul's deep voice spoke up as he stared down at Virgil hard. I couldn't help, but give a small smile. I look back at Turk as he shakes my hands a little.

"_Sonya Zerga_ doesn't get nervous. Sam can. It's kinda cute for her, but Sonya doesn't even know what that word means. She's frigid and a bitch. She's..." Turk gives a small shrug, searching for the right word. I feel a small smile on my lips, knowing he's right and knowing that I could easily screw this entire job up if I didn't get a grip on myself right this moment.

"She's what?" I encourage, feeling my nerves calming down.

"She's everything you're not." Turk finishes his sentence and all I can do is blink a few times. I tried to register what he had said in my head and knit my eyebrows together in the process.

"Was that supposed to help me or make me feel bad?" I ask finally, not knowing how to take it.

"It sounded right in my head." Turk admits sheepishly. I nod my head slowly, closing my eyes and taking the deepest breath I ever had.

"Okay. You're right. Let's do this." I let go of my breath and look back at him. He gives me that charming cocky smile of his and takes one of his hands from mine, placing it against my cheek. I feel my stomach flip as my face grew warm. My mind suddenly goes blank.

"I know since you're such a sweetheart that this will be more then usual for you, but just keep breathing and think about the next move. We're all here with you too." He brushes a stray hair from my face and lets his hand drop. I was confused. I had been feeling completely nervous, but now there was a strange feeling in my chest, an almost tickle sensation. My belly didn't feel so sick with fear anymore either and my hands were tingling. I quickly look to the ground and feel my breathing unsteady.

"A-alright..." I whisper, pulling my hands from him and straightening myself. I try to imagine myself as Sonya; the beautiful, powerful, and rich narcissist.

"I'm right here with you, Sam." Turk speaks softly as I toss my hair back over my shoulders and look back at him. He smiles and stares back at me, "Ready Misses Zerga?"

"Yes." I answer in my best Russian accent and smile.

"I can't believe you divorced me for Saul. I'm way cuter." Turk laughs lightly, trying to lighten my mood. I smile softly and move a little closer, placing my red tipped fingers on his tie. I straighten it and then flattening his lapel out, smoothing it.

"You know Turk...t'is look suits you." I pat his tie gently against his chest and then kiss his cheek gently. I pull back and mouth a thank you before walking passed him, confidently as I imagined Sonya would do.

"Okay, either I really do look good or you can act. Which is it?" Turk calls out as I take Saul's arm and we start to walk up the steps of The Bellagio.

"You v'ill never know." I return and look back at him, giving him a smirk. He and Virgil follow behind with our bags as I sway my hips seductively and narrow my eyes a little, trying to create the sultry look that I perceived Sonya having if she were real. I try not to look at the people that stare at us as we head through the main hall. I know they were whispering about the four of us, but right now my mind was set on the goal of today's mission.

We walk through the casino, stopping for no one and head into the lounge. I spot Linus and Rusty at a table, figuring they were checking up on Benedict. I spot Rusty's smirk towards me and all I can do is give him a cold gaze and keep the meaningful walk beside Saul.

"May I help you?" The lady at the front desk of the hotel asks.

"Reservations; Zerga." I answer and stare at her with no interest. She looks down at the computer before her while I look around the place nonchalantly. I hear the lady's nails as she types into the computer, searching for the reservations Rusty was supposed to have made for us.

"Um, how do you spell your name?" The lady asks as I look back at her with a snooty look.

"Zerga; Z-E-R-G-A." I answer slowly, trying to make it appear in my voice and expression that I thought she was an imbecile. The lady quickly went back to her computer again, her fingers typing away as fast as she could.

"Yes, alright. You have suite 11-20. Here's your keys." I look at the two keys she places on the counter and take them, giving her a forced sweet smile.

"Spasibo." I take the keys and we begin to walk away. We head into the casino floor and passed the slot machines where we knew Benedict was at this time in the day. I spot him off to my right and quickly look him up and down, sending a smirk his way as we passed on by. We headed out of the floor and to the elevators at the other side.

"Sam?" I freeze at the use of my name. I swallow hard and keep my gaze forward on the elevator doors, praying that whoever had called it left me alone, "Sam? Is that you?"

"Back off." I hear Virgil speak in English, but with a Russian accent.

"You back off. Sam, it's me; Paolo." My heart stops as I continue to listen to the man. I knew the name and now the voice was familiar, "Come on Sam."

"Her name is Sonya. Back off." I hear Turk as he drops the bags he was carrying. I keep my gaze forward, knowing that if I turned around and it was Paolo DeLuca then I was finished. I would be made and then I couldn't go through with this job.

"Sam, come on. You know me. You used to date my brother; Marcello." The mention of the name sends a sharp pain through my chest. I feel Saul's grip on my arm tighten, trying to comfort me and help me keep my composure.

"Get him out of here." Saul commanded in Russian. I hear the bags drop from Virgil's arms and footsteps behind me.

"What are you doing? Get off! Let go of me!" Paolo called out as I heard him struggling against Turk and Virgil, "I'm going! Alright? I'm going."

All I can do is listen as I stared wide eyed at the elevator doors before me. The elevator doors open and Saul and I quickly walk inside, Turk and Virgil following closely behind with the bags. I slowly turn around and stare at Paolo as he walks away. He was as tall as I remembered, maybe the same height as Virgil, and had shaggy dark brown hair and brown eyes.

I spot Paolo turn around to look back at the elevators as the doors close. I was made. I knew it as we locked eyes. It was over for me.

The elevator doors shut tightly and slowly it began to rise. The ride was longer then I had thought and uneasy as Virgil and Turk questioned me about who Paolo was. I give small answers, not revealing any major details. I didn't want to talk about it. It was painful and all I wanted to do was forget. We walk in and close the door, locking it as tightly as we possibly could.

"Oh my God..." I breath out, letting my arm fall from Saul's as I walk further into the room and fall back into one of the couches.

"You did wonderful." Saul compliments me and walks into one of the other rooms. I look over at Turk and Virgil as they set the bags they had carried down.

"I feel so bad for the check in lady." I speak up after a moment. Virgil walks over to me and sits on the couch across from me.

"Don't. She probably gets it everyday." Virgil returns and I look over at him, my face showing him that he hadn't made me feel any better, "Don't worry."

I nod my head and lean forward, placing my elbows on my thighs as I lace my hands together in front of me. I look over towards the door and see Turk still standing there, hands in his suit pants pockets.

"Turk, want to sit down?" I ask with a small laugh, earning his attention. He shakes his head and gives a small 'no', looking around the main room of the suite. I knit my eyebrows together, finding his sudden behavior odd. I look over at Virgil and mouth to him, asking if Turk was alright. Virgil gives a shrug and looks over the back of the couch he sat on, staring at his brother.

"What's wrong with you?" He asks and I inwardly curse at him. Turk looks back over at us and shakes his head.

"Nothing. I just don't want to sit." He returns as Saul walks back out from the room he had gone into.

"Alright, now you three need to get back to the warehouse." Saul looks over at us, point to each of us.

"Not in these clothes I'm not." I reply and stand up from my seat, walking to where the bags had been left. I search through the one I knew held a change of clothes for me and pulled them out. I walk into the bedroom in the back and close the door. I throw the dress in a nearby chair and walk to the bedroom door, pulling my hair into a ponytail. I stop at the door and slowly finish my ponytail, trying to listen to the voices in the next room.

I could tell it was Turk and Virgil arguing, but somehow it seemed different then the other times. It reminded me of the warehouse when they had talked about saying something to someone, but the fact that Rusty had been standing there deterred them from doing it. I can't exactly hear any of it just bits and pieces like:

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Just do it!"

"No, I can't!"

"Stop being a girl!"

It didn't make any sense to me; at all. I shake my head and unlock the door, stepping out into the main room. Virgil and Turk's conversation stops abruptly like the last time as they both give me the same sheepish look.

"Is everything alright with you two?" I ask, closing the door behind me. They look at each other and nod before looking back at me and telling me yes. I nod my head slowly, their answers being far less then convincing, "Okay...are we ready to leave?"

"Uh yeah I think so." Virgil speaks up and looks to Turk beside him, "Ready _Turk_?"

Turk looks at his brother and mumbles something. I lick my lips, feeling like an outsider and decide to just walk passed them out the door of the suite. They quickly follow behind me and we head out of The Bellagio, heading for the warehouse to help finish setting up the vault replica.


	10. Sibling Rivalry

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Baby girl, hand me some more of them chips there." Frank looks over from his spot beside the shelves of chips. I pick up my head from staring at my nails and hop off the table I sat on. I pick up three packs of black chips and walk over, handing them to him one by one, "Thanks."

I smile at Frank and nod, handing him another pack. We had been working for hours on end and now it was somewhere near one. I was tired and hungry and was dying to get a shower. I look around the warehouse and watch what the others were doing. Lawrence was by his computers. Linus was helping Basher with pushing a large cart of money. Yen was stacking things in a shelf. Danny stood beside a table, watching us all as we did the work and Rusty was out of sight.

My gaze falls upon the twins as they rolled over another shelf, wearing matching red jumpsuits. I smile and give a small laugh, looking down at my feet. I thought to earlier at The Bellagio when Turk had touched my cheek and held my hand, remembering the feelings I had gotten.

I recognized the feelings, but for now I had to push them out of my mind. This couldn't happen, it could ruin this job if we got involved and anyway...he'd just leave in the end like Marcello had. My mind slowly drifts away from Turk and over to Paolo. I was dead if Rusty found out and that worried me far beyond anything Marcello and his family could possibly ever do to me.

"You alright? Baby girl?" Frank asks me, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I ask, looking back at Frank. He stares down at me, studying me.

"Somethin' wrong?" He asks after a moment. I open my mouth to tell him everything and decide against it. I shake my head slowly and smile instead.

"No, I'm fine. Just really tired." I give a small laugh and hand him the last pack of chips. I walk back over to the table I had been sitting on and hop up, crossing my legs at the ankles and swaying them back and forth. Something catches my eye and I look to my left at Danny. Rusty stands beside him, whispering harshly. I narrow my eyes at them and start to push myself off the table. Rusty spots me and holds a hand out to me, telling me to stay where I am.

I push myself back on the table and watch as Rusty and Danny walk to the open doors of the warehouse. They step outside the door as Rusty starts talking at Danny. I could tell that something was wrong by the look on Rusty's face.

"What're they talking about?" I look back in front of me and shrug at Virgil and Turk.

"Whatever it is it's not good." I respond and look back over my shoulder at Rusty and Danny. Rusty was talking down to Danny. He was pissed.

"Hey I figured out what I could call you." I turn back around and smile at Virgil.

"What?" I ask as he leans against the table beside me.

"Barbie." I laugh out loud at the name. I look at him and then at Turk.

"Did you help him with this one?" I ask through another laugh. Turk moves to the other side of me and leans against the table.

"Nope, the geek came up with it himself." Turk replies, causing me to look back at Virgil.

"Why Barbie?"

"You're blonde and after that display today Barbie seemed perfect." Virgil smiles a little and I shake my head, looking back at the vault behind Turk.

"Fine; Barbie it is." I reply and shake my head again.

"Virgil come here!" The three of us look to Basher. Virgil straightens himself and walks over to him and Linus, leaving Turk and me alone. After a moment I look at Turk and study the jumpsuit he was wearing.

"You are the only one I know who can pull off the red jumpsuit look." I feel a new set of laughs erupt form my throat as he stares at me. Suddenly I feel him start to tickle my sides.

"No, stop!" I laugh and try to swat his hands away. He gets smart and wraps an arm around me, pulling me closer to him as he continues his assault.

"Say uncle!"

"Uncle, uncle, stop!"

"**Samantha!**" I snap my head to look behind us at the sudden call. Turk stops tickling me as we spot Rusty and Danny walking up to us. Rusty didn't look happy. Actually he looked pissed. I look to Turk and then back at Rusty, unsure of what was wrong. It couldn't have been Turk he was irked with. It had to be me. Something I did only I had no idea what I had done.

"You only call me Samantha when you're really mad at me." I state as Rusty stops in front of us. I was frightened. Rusty was usually a sweet guy, but when he got mad, he got really mad...and scary. I swallow hard and watch Danny continue walking by, giving me a sorrowful look. I become more uneasy and look to Turk beside me. My eyes wander to Saul, who sat in the corner, his back turned to me as though in shame.

I had hoped that he would have kept this 'Paolo' thing a secret, but then again if he had we all would be dead, not just me alone. I look back to Rusty and go to try and say something, but he stops me.

"Come on." Rusty takes my arm and pulls me form the table, nearly making me fall to the ground. He starts dragging me towards the open doors of the warehouse while I tug on his hand gripping my arm.

"Rusty stop." I try to pull my arm from his grip, "You're hurting me."

Suddenly he tugs on my arm hard, swinging me in front of him and under the street light outside the doors, "What the Hell is wrong with you?"

"Me?" Rusty starts as I rub my arm. He places his hands on his hips, pushing his suit jacket out of the way a little, "What about you? Why didn't you tell me?"

I stare at him a moment and then shake my head a little, trying to figure out what to say. He clenches his jaw until his lips a a thin line and then runs a hand over his mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me about Paolo!" He suddenly snaps, making me jump back a little, "Instead I have to hear it from Linus; the Goddamn Rookie! Why didn't **you **tell me!"

"Linus?" I ask softly. I shake my head and look back into the warehouse to where Linus sat. My eyes widen, understanding now what was going on. I notice several of the guys were watching us or more watching Rusty as he fumed. My eyes land on Turk and quickly I look away, feeling completely embarrassed.

"Linus saw the whole thing today! Paolo coming up out of nowhere and calling you by your real name. Do you know what this means!" Rusty shouts and turns his back to me, walking a few feet away and shaking his head.

"What does it matter? Just because Paolo is here doesn't mean Marcello is." I speak softly and look back at Rusty, hoping that he wouldn't yell at me anymore and draw more attention to us.

"You should have told me! This could ruin everything, Sam!" I wince at his tone and feel like turning into a puddle to escape. I hated being yelled at, especially when the person was treating me like a child, "You never think Sam! You just do whatever the Hell you want to! That's what got you into the mess with the DeLuca's in the first place!"

"You're blaming all of that on me!" I yell back, the words striking a nerve. Rusty just stares down back as I feel my nostrils flare and my blood boil in my veins, "You have some nerve Robert! Just take a look at your right arm! Look at that tattoo and tell me it was all my fault!"

"I wasn't sleeping with the boss's son!" Rusty screeches out and takes a step towards me.

"Neither was I!" I scream back at the top of my lungs. I feel tears prickle my eyes and I shake my head, gritting my teeth, "I never climbed into bed with him. Yeah, I thought about it, but I didn't. That's why everything went to Hell."

"Whatever. You're done." Rusty replies and runs a hand over his mouth. He shakes his head and starts walking back towards the warehouse doors, "Go home Sam."

I shake my head and watch him continue walking, my anger continuing to build.

"You son of a bitch!" I call after him in a feeble attempt to...well I don't no what exactly I was trying to attempt, but I didn't feel like this conversation was finished. I didn't want it to be. Not yet, "You just wake up and get to go wherever the fuck you feel like whenever you fucking feel like it! I can't do that because you dragged me into all this bullshit!"

"I told you not to get involved with him, Sammy!" Rusty turned on his heels and walked back in front of me. I shake my head slowly and scoff. Out of nowhere I feel my anger receding, leaving me with betrayal and hurt.

"No you didn't! All you said was that he couldn't be trusted! You said you didn't trust him! I did!" I scream out, more pressure building behind my eyes, but my blood ceasing to boil, "Then when I told you I loved him, you left. You just left me all by myself with them! After everything that happened in New York you left because that's what Robert fucking Ryan does best! He disappears when life gets too hard; when he feels like he's in over his head!"

I could feel the hot tears that rolled down my cheeks and gave a small sniff. I quickly wipe the tears away and cross my arms over my chest. I was embarrassed, but more then anything I felt betrayed.

"When you left I became fair game to Marcello and he and his father took his chance. I was an asset to them, something they could use, and I let them because I didn't have anywhere else to go. I was eighteen, alone, and they were all I had." I choke out and look to the sky, hoping to stop my tears from falling anymore, "I asked myself where you were everyday...! Why you weren't there, trying to get me out."

All the emotions I had pent up behind the damn were now breaking through. Years of anger and hurt just flowed from me like a river and I could tell there was no stopping it now until the river ran dry. A few more tears fall from my eyes as I look down at the ground, unable to meet his gaze.

"You promised me after mom had died that..." I choke up and force myself to look up at him as more tears fell from my eyes, "After mom died you promised you would always be there, looking after me. That you wouldn't let anyone hurt us. You promised you'd..."

I look back into the warehouse and see everyone looking at Rusty and me. I look down at the ground and wipe my cheeks, shaking my head.

"Sammy-"

"Don't Sammy me!" I snap and look back at him. I shake my head as I try to hold back more tears, "I thought I'd die there! With those monsters! If it hadn't been for Basher I never would have escaped! I would still be there now if he hadn't rescued me!"

I chew on my bottom lip that had begun to quiver and shake my head again. I feel him staring down at me, but I can't look up at him. I'm torn. I want him to feel how much he hurt me, but then I don't want to hurt him. I turn away from him and head down the sidewalk, not caring where I was going, but that I **was** going; that for the first time **he **would be the one to watch _me _go.

"Sam!" Rusty calls out. I want to turn around, but I ignore him instead and continue on. I start walking a little faster, wanting to get as far away as I can, "Sammy! Sam, come back!"

I sniff back my tears again and continue walking, hanging my head and keeping my arms crossed over my chest. He had left me alone when I needed him the most. He was my brother, my only family and he just up and left one day, leaving me to the dogs, and then to solitude. He had single handedly caused me more confusion and hurt then anyone in my life. He had promised not to leave, to protect me from people like the DeLucas'...but he just woke up one day, packed his things, and left town.

That's when I met Basher. He had been invited to pull a job off with Marcello and Paolo. He was crazy, loved to blow things to ruble. He had found me one day in the DeLuca's mansion crying. He had told me that the DeLucas' were a bad bunch for a girl to get in with, especially a girl like me. I told him I wanted to get out more than anything, but didn't know how. He promised that after the job was said and done that he would take me away. He did. The DeLucas' were pissed and since then Basher has to steer clear of New York. We've been friends ever since.

I continue to walk for hours and finally find myself on Las Vegas Boulevard. I watch as I approach The Bellagio and reach my hand into my jeans pocket, feeling the key to the suite. I keep my head low and get to the room, throwing myself down on my bed. I pull a pillow to my chest and shut my eyes tightly, fighting the urge to cry more.

I didn't trust Rusty anymore; my only brother, my last bit of family. It hurt worse then anything the DeLucas' had done to me. They had beaten me, called me terrible things, made me do terrible things, but Rusty's action of leaving me with them was worse.


	11. In A Pinch

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Sam! 'ey! Sam!" I slowly close my book and look at the clock on the table beside the couch in my room. It was nearly midnight, shouldn't he be with the others? I look back down at my book and pick up where I left off. I really didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now. Another loud knock comes from the door again and I huff, shutting my book, "Giggles I know you're still upset! We 'ave a serious problem! Open up! We need to talk!"

I pick myself up from the couch and head to the door, unlocking it. I pull it open and my eyes grow wide as I stare at Basher covered in a drippy dark goo from head to foot. I lick my lips and try not to breath in through my nose because it smelled so bad.

"What is all over you?" I cover my nose suddenly as I get a whiff and gag at the smell that was coming off of him. He looks down at himself and tugs at the hem of his shirt.

"I wet for a swim." He replies simply.

"Where? The freaking sewer?" I ask as I wave a hand in front of me to try and rid of the stench.

"Yeah actually." I stare at him as if he was crazy and then feel the left part of my upper left lip twitch, "We 'ave to leave. Now."

I nod slowly and move from my door, walking around him. I try to keep a distance between him and me, the smell making me sick.

"What's going on?" I ask as I pinch my nose and slow down.

"Benedict backed up the power grid. They've figured out their weakness." Basher responds as we walk down some back streets and head to the warehouse where the others would surely be.

"So then that means that we can't shut down the power like we wanted right?" I ask, pinching my nose tighter. He nods his head and then shakes it.

"I don't know what we're gonna do now." He states aggravated by the situation. I look over at him and think. I then shook my head and give a good fake smile.

"You'll figure something out. You always do." I give a small laugh and look back in front of us at the warehouse we were approaching. I was** not** looking forward to being anywhere near Rusty right now, but this was important to the job and I cared about the others. So long as I was still a part of this game then I was going to help. Basher notices my look and follows my gaze to the warehouse doors. He takes a deep breath and sighs, looking back at me.

"What were you and Russ arguin' 'bout?" Basher asks, making me look to him.

"You couldn't hear us?" I give a small scoff and look down at my feet.

"Kind of. Heard some of it, but couldn't make out much of the rest of it." He returns and pulls at his shirt that was soaking with the drippy goo. I wanted to gag, "When he came back inside he was furious you know. Didn't want to talk to no one. Just walked passed us all and stormed into the back. Was there the entire night."

"He has nothing to be mad about." I growl softly and look back at the warehouse.

"Says who?" Basher asks and stops walking, making me stop as well. I look at him and shake my head skeptically at his answer.

"Bash, **he** left _me_. He left me knowing what they were going to do to me." I try to explain, defend myself.

"True, but he came back didn't he? He came back, found you, and now you two are together again yeah?" Basher asks and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but he should have been the one to save me. They were already done with me when you got to me. I was already broken beyond repair." I reply and feel my throat tighten up, "And afterwards...after we had 'made up, if you can even call it that, nothing was the same. We weren't as close as we had been anymore. Then when I wanted out of the crime world, he flipped again."

"You _really_ believe that he would just leave you with no reason behind it." Basher states and shakes his head at me, "You didn't ever think there was another reason?"

I stare at Basher long and hard, unsure of what other reason it could have been. Rusty left me and didn't come back for four years. He _knew _what they were capable of, what they were planning, but he left. What else was there?

"Do you not know your brother at all?" Basher asks after a long moment, shaking his head at me once more. I give a shrug and shake my head back at him.

"What else is it there Bash?" I ask softly as Basher notices my look and gives a small sarcastic laugh. He shakes his head and stares at me.

"You ever think he was trying to protect you?" Basher asks seriously as he crosses his arms over his gooey chest.

"Leaving me there with them was his way of protecting me?" I shake my head and look away from him angrily.

"He knew Marcello was a bad apple. Ever think that he thought if he left Marcello would have no reason to keep you around?" Basher asks, mostly rhetorically to make me think, but he had a good point. Rusty was the better player then I could ever dream of being. I had been the one to meet Marcello. I introduced him to Rusty. He wanted Rusty and through me he got him. Without Rusty there was no point in keeping me, hut that plan had back fired.

"And that worked so well." I retort and shake my head, "Why did he skip out the second time and try to keep a good distance from me?"

"You and Russ 'ave been doing jobs since you were fifteen, yeah?" Basher asks and uncrosses his arms. I nod my head and run a hand through my hair, "But you didn't want that lifestyle?"

"No, Russ wanted the casino life; to have all the money and got a thrill out of coning." I answer and cross my arms over my chest, looking down at the ground a quick moment.

"Well, then did you ever think that maybe Rusty decided to go off to give you the normal life you wanted? Without havin' to worry about a job coming back and bitin' you in the ass?" I look back at Basher and chew on my bottom lip. I didn't want to admit it, but it sounded right. Disappearing, very little contact, all to keep me safe? That sounded a lot more like the old Robert. That sounded like my overprotective, worrisome, older brother whose been looking after his kid sister since she was eight years old.

"What about the DeLucas'?" I ask as we stood there silently. It still didn't answer my question, "After he left the DeLucas' and saw that they weren't letting me go, why didn't he come back for me then?"

"I...I don't know love." Basher replies with a small apologetic expression. He shakes his head and looks away from me for a moment, "That's something you 'ave to ask 'im...But if I know your brother half as well as I think I do, then he has a good reason."

"Yeah...you're probably right." I sigh and look down at the ground, licking my lips. I shake my head at myself for blaming Rusty for everything that had happened. He was the only person I ever laid blame on. I lift my head and look over at Basher's expression, which had turned thoughtful. He gives me a small shrug and I instantly knew that he was feeling guilty for sticking up from Rusty so much. He always liked to be in between, never taking sides.

"In all fairness, he could 'ave _at least_ told you some 'bout what he was doin' or just that he was alright." Basher speaks up and looks to me.

"Bash, I would hug you if you weren't covered in scat and God knows what else." I admit and look him over, no hint of a smile gracing my face. I wasn't exactly happy at the moment, but I wasn't angry anymore either. Somehow Basher had opened my eyes a little...and my nose, "You really reek."

"I understand completely and agree." He looks down at himself and gently pulls his sweater away from his chest, letting it then fall back into place with a heavy_ 'slap'. _I look back at the warehouse and the open doors, seeing the light pour out from inside where the guys were working.

I really didn't want to be anywhere near Rusty right now, but I knew I had to be. As long as Danny wished it I was still part of this team...and so was Rusty.

"Thanks Basher. For trying to help me understand." I bob my head a moment and close my eyes, "Even though now I think I'm more confused then ever."

"Any time."

"Mind if I go ahead?" I stick a thumb towards the warehouse and start backtracking that way, pinching my nose with my other hand.

"Not at all, Giggles. I'll waddle over there eventually." Basher and I share a small laugh and then I start walking away again in silence. I begin to wonder whether or not what Basher had told was true. Rusty liked to keep secrets. Especially from me and it all made sense in a strange twisted sort of way, but then again it didn't at all.

I walk into the warehouse and I look at the finished replica of the vault. I see Yen pulling himself out of one of the money cart in the center of the vault. I turn my gaze upon the group of guys that stood watching him from the side. Rusty stood stiffly at the back of the group, a can of soda in his hand. He didn't look as if his mind was currently in what Yen was doing or in the job at all.

I slowly make my way over, careful to avoid him at all costs. As I mentioned, I wasn't really angry anymore, just confused. Until I was able to work things out in my head I didn't want to rock the boat anymore then it already was.

"Ten bucks says he shorts it." Turk speaks up from the far left of the group. I give a small laugh and shake my head, looking back at Yen.

"Twenty." A few of the others bet and I can't help but laugh again.

"I have a fifty that says he lands it." I bet, looking over at Yen for another moment. I give him a wink and look back at the others. They stare at me as I begin walking closer and stop beside Turk, arms crossed over my chest.

"You're that confident in circus boy?" Turk asks, making me laugh as I look over his clothing.

"Yeah. I am." I look back at Yen and nod my head, "Yen, you screw this up for me and I'll beat you, monkey boy!"

I don't say anything more and only stare at Yen, feeling Rusty staring at me. Yen puts his back to a set of shelves at least ten feet away and bends his knees, readying himself. Suddenly he flips backwards and lands on the top of the shelves as if it were nothing.

"Never bet against a blonde, Turk." I sigh out, trying to restrain my grin. I turn to him and outstretch my hand, "Now pay up, rent-a-cop."

I lay my hand out in front of Turk, a grin making it's way to my lips though I try to rid of it once again. I look at him and nod my head towards my open hand, flexing my fingers to taunt him playfully. He gives a small soft snort and reaches into his pocket, pulling out fifty while he grumbles.

"...I thought blondes were supposed to be dumb..." Turk mumbles.

"I have two Bachelor's Degrees Turk. Somehow I doubt I'm dumb." I finish counting the massive amounts of ones Turk had handed me and look up at him.

"Really?" He asks surprised by this. I narrow my eyes at him and slowly nod my head.

"Yeeaaaaah." I shake my head slowly and look at the rest of the guys. I hold my hand out to them as they, all except Rusty, place their money in my hand, "Thank you and thank you."

I smile at them as I shove the money into my pocket, not caring to fight with Rusty over it. I feel an arm wrap around my shoulders and feel Turk pull me into a side hug, bringing his mouth close to my ear.

"You alright?" He whispers as I wrap my arm around his waist.

"Not really." I whisper back.

"It'll be alright. Siblings fight all the time. Just look at Virgil and me." Turk pulls back a little and I give a small laugh, looking down at the ground, "I'm more worried about whether or not he broke your wrist. He yanked you pretty hard."

"My wrist...?" I look at him, slightly confused by what he was talking about. I look down at my wrists as I remember the hold Rusty had had on me. I subconsciously rub the dull red mark on my right wrist.

"He had such a crazed look in his eyes that I thought he was going to hit you honestly." Turk breaks me from my daydream. I look back at him again and shake my head.

"He would never, ever do something like that. Ever." I defend Rusty, though I still rubbed my wrist.

"Yeah?" Turk stares at me a moment longer and then nods his head slowly, not truly believing me., "...alright."

At the moment I didn't care whether or not he believed me. All I cared about was the fact that he was on my side and not Rusty's. That made me smile.

"If he ever touches you like that again I'm going to teach him a lesson. A guy if never allowed to touch a girl like that. Family or not." Turk continues on as my smile grows, "Rusty thinks he can bully you around. I don't think so. I bet Reuben and couple of others would have something to say about the way he treated you. If he ever-"

"Turk," I start through a laugh and covered his mouth with my hand, "I get it. Thank you."

I let go of his mouth, him grumbling about something, and pull myself closer to him. I knew he meant it, all of it. That made me feel alright; safe. Turk made me feel safe.


	12. Evil Kenievel

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Window or aisle gents?" We all look over and stare at Basher as he walks closer. I look up over at Rusty and notice the look on his face at Basher's...attire. Basher looks around at us all and nods his head, "Yeah, we're in deep shit!"

I close my eyes and try to stifle the laugh in my throat as Basher looks over at me. I give a small sheepish smile and shrug, telling him I couldn't help it. He moves to a stool that sat beside a table and sits down, looking around at us.

"That poxy demo crew 'aven't used a coaxial feed to batten the main line, 'ave they? Instead they've gone and nosed up the backup grid! Nosed it right up!" Basher yells as he takes off his sewer infested sweater and throws it to the ground. I cross my arms over my chest as Danny moves next to Rusty to say something to him.

"Does anyone know what he's saying?" Reuben asks, looking around at each of us for a translation of Basher lingo. I shake my head, having no clue. I push passed the others and stand in next to Danny, who was beside. Turk followed behind me and leaned an elbow on the top of my head even though he wasn't quite tall enough for it to work right. We were about the same height. I lightly smack it away, smiling as I did so.

"Listen, they're so pone that they 'ave gone an blown the back up grid one by one." Basher explains to us. I feel something moving against my sides and look down to see a pair of hands by my middle. I smack them away and hold them behind my back, hearing Turk laughing lightly. I shake my head and stare at Basher, a smile making it's way to my lips.

"Would you leave her alone? Yeesh!" Reuben calls out, catching everyone's attention. Turk and I look over at me as I try to force my grin to leave my face, "Save the school yard giggling and flirting for later, alright? Makes me sick how much you two go at it."

"Reuben...!" I hiss, holding back my laugh. Danny slowly turns away from the rest of us and looks at Rusty, giving him a small look. He then shakes his head and looks back at Basher, who was laughing lightly.

"What happened?" Danny asks, looking from me to Basher. Apparently he thought I might know. I shrug and put my hands up as if to say 'why would I know'.

"They did exactly what I would of done except by accident. Now they know their weakness and are sortin' it out." Basher wipes some sewage from his face and flicks it to the ground by his sweater, "Unless we intend to do this job in Reno, we're in Barney."

I look back at Turk, my eyebrows knit together in question at what Basher had just said. Turk shakes his head and I look back at Basher, seeing no one in the group knew what he was talking about either. Basher notices no one understands and stares at us as if it was the simplest thing.

"Barney Ruble." He tries to explain, but yet again none of us seem to know what he's talking about. Basher throws his hands in the air, "Trouble!"

"Oh..." I whisper and cross my arms over my chest. I nod my head and then lick my lips, "Yeah..._of course_ that meant trouble..."

"Well..." Danny starts, an idea popping into his head and turns to Rusty. He gives Rusty a small 'maybe' face and crosses his arms.

"By tomorrow?" Rusty asks and then shakes his head. Basher suddenly snaps his fingers and points randomly at nothing.

"Ho;d up. 'ang on a minute, 'ang on...We could use a pinch." He speaks with enthusiasm and smiles. I sigh and lay my head in my right hand, shaking it.

"What's a pinch?" Danny asks for the group.

"Boom." I state stoically as everyone looks to me, "It's a bomb."

"A bomb?" Virgil asks and stares down at me, "As in an explosion?"

"Uh yeah, that's what bombs tend to do...**explode**." I shake my head and look back at Basher, "We can't bomb the place, Bash. That would be _bad _and we would be thrown in jail for the rest of our lives. I don't know about you, but for me, that's a long time."

"No, we can't bomb it. We want the pinch without the **bomb** part. The pinch we want is a device which will create a sort of cardiac arrest for any broadband electrical circuitry." Basher looks around at us to see if we were all understanding. I smush my lips into a thin line and shake my head slowly. I understood what he meant for the most part. The pinch would knock out anything running on electricity. I got that, but I needed it explained further; how it worked, where we would get one, how much it would cost, etc.

"Alright, you see when a nuclear weapon detonates it unleashes an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down any power source within its blast radius. That tends not to matter in most cases because the nuclear weapon usually destroys anythin' you might need power for anyway. A pinch would create a similar electromagnetic pulse, but without the fuss of mass destruction and death. So instead of Hiroshima you'd be gettin' the seventeenth century."

"How long would it work for?" Rusty asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Basher looks over at me and then at Rusty and Danny. I was surprised he was talking too. Usually when Rusty was mad he got quiet, real quiet. He was better at the silence thing then I was.

"About thirty seconds; give or take." He replies as Rusty slowly looks over at Danny in thought.

"Could a pinch knock out the power of an entire city?" Danny asks vaguely though we all knew exactly what city he was talking about.

"Yeah, I think it just might." Basher nods his head and thinks about something, "But there's only one pinch big enough in the world to do that."

"Where is it?" Danny asks, looking from Basher to me. I give a shrug, my face twisting into 'why the Hell would I know?', and then I look to Basher for an answer.

"Why does everyone always look at me for an answer?" I ask seriously, looking back up at Danny. Danny opens his mouth to reply, but quickly shuts it, bobbing his head from left to right as he thinks. He looks to Rusty, who is of no help, and then at Basher.

"Because you're so smart Mrs. I-have-two-Bachlor's-Degrees." Turk speaks up from behind me and quickly pokes at my side, making me jump a little. I turn around and look at him, as does the rest of the group. Turk looks at everyone as if he had suddenly been surrounded with the Children of the Corn, "What? I was joking. She knows that. Sam, you know that right? Ow! What the Hell!"

Turk grabs his left arm tightly and glares at Virgil, who had elbowed him. I close my eyes and shake my head, turning back to Basher.

"Where can we find the stupid pinch?" I ask and run a hand over my face.

"The California Institute of Advanced Science." Basher replies, rubbing his hands on the thighs of his pants. I tap a finger against my lips and slowly look to Rusty reluctantly. He stares down at me for a long moment and then points a finger, that was wrapped around his soda, at me.

"What do you think?" He asks carefully, his eyes still telling me he was angry with me. For a moment I feel my blood boil, but then it disappears as quickly as it had happened. Instead I feel like a puppy, who had just been yelled at for tearing apart my master's favorite shoes. I take a deep breath and lick my lips.

"I don't know." I reply softly and honestly, "It could work. It might not. It's the only plan we've got though."

Rusty continues to stare down at me and slowly his expression changes. He quickly looks over at Danny beside him. I look between them, each of them giving the other a shrug. Finally they stop and Danny turns to face the group.

"Yen, Basher, Turk, Virgil, Linus, and Sam; get in the van." Danny orders, turning to look at each of us, "We're heading to California."

"Let me change." Basher speaks up and stands from his stool.

"Me too. This suit itches like Hell." Turk also speaks up, messing with the collar of his security guard uniform. I look over at Danny and give him a shrug and an eye roll, signaling a 'why not?' his way. I walk towards the van parked by the entrance to the warehouse and climb into the back, lying down on the floor as I awaited the others.

It didn't take long before we hit the road. It was a good couple of hours to our destination and the twins wouldn't stop bickering. Danny, Yen, Basher, and Linus all sat in the back of the van in their black getups while I sat on the floor and stuck in between Turk and Virgil's seats. After two hours I was getting bored.

"Are we there yet?" I ask from where I sit on the floor of the van. I look between the twins and lean my head back against the radio in the dash behind me. Virgil looks down at me for a long moment and then looks back out the windshield.

"No. Nowhere near." Virgil replies stoically and rearranges himself in his seat, "Stop asking."

"But my butt hurts." I groan dramatically and then laugh, seeing Virgil shake his head and roll his eyes. I look up at the ceiling of the van and sigh, wanting the drive to be over. It was taking forever it seemed. I was beginning to wonder if Turk hadn't gotten us all lost. Another hour rolled by and I was ready to jump out of the van.

"There it is." Turk announces and I sit up a little and look over the dash at the large white building of the Institute of Advanced Science.

"Thank. God." I breathe out and look over at Virgil. He gives a shrug and leans back in his seat. I sit back down on the ground and thank God again that the three hour car ride was over. I lean back in my spot again and look around at the guys in the back.

Each of them wore black leather jackets, gloves, and dark pants. They definitely screamed burglars. I didn't know why, but somehow I always seemed to get dragged into these parts of the job. A few years ago I loved it, but now it seemed so...beneath me even though that wasn't saying much since I was a criminal after all.

I thought this job would be fun. That it would feel like all the others had, but something had changed. Or maybe it was me that had changed? It had been years since I had done a job, but I still knew how it all worked. I still knew every single thing I had learned, but it felt so...foreign to me in a way. Like I was in another country and had forgotten how to speak their language.

The van stops suddenly and the back door is opened as quickly as the guys could move. Basher and Yen are out first followed by Danny, who pushes Linus back into the van after he tried to hop out.

"Where are you going?" Danny asks Linus, confused by why he was trying to get out of the van at all. Linus knits his eyebrows together and looks behind Danny at the building.

"With you." Linus replies confused by why Danny was holding him back.

"No you're not." I call from my seat, crossing my legs and leaning back against the side of the van. Linus and Danny look back at me, Danny's eyebrows knitting together.

"What are **you **doing?" He asks and I give a small shrug as an answer.

"I have no interest in this. I'll stay here." I explain and look back to the plain white wall of the other side of the van before me.

"You used to love this part." Danny replies, seeming to be taken aback by my answer. I shrug and lean my head back against the radio.

"Not anymore." I sigh dramatically, "I've lost the passion for life. Sob, sob, sob..."

"Alright, so then I'm going instead." Linus tries to get passed Danny's hand again and meets the same result.

"No, you're staying." Danny answers back at and starts to shut the van doors, not wanting to waste anymore time.

"No, no! Don't leave me here with these guys!" Linus shouts as the doors shut on him.

"Oh thanks." I give a small laugh, more at Linus being told no then his comment. I close my eyes and sit quietly as the twins begin a game of twenty questions.

"Are you going to think of one?" Virgil asks and looks over at his brother in the driver's seat.

"No, I've already _thought_ of one. I'm not going to_ think_ of one."

"Oh so you're thinking of one?"

"No, I'm done thinking of it. I have it in my head." Turk answers as Virgil shakes his head and looks back at him. I give a small laugh and stretch out my legs, yawning. I look between the two, crossing my legs, and watch as they continue on with their game.

"Are you a man?" Virgil starts and I smile.

"Lame start!" I laugh, looking at Virgil.

"Yeah, lame." Turk agrees and I know he's just doing it to annoy his brother.

"Is it or isn't it?" Virgil asks, ignoring both Turk and me.

"Yes; nineteen." Turk replies, turning and looking out his window.

"Are you alive?"

"Yes; eighteen."

"Evil Kinevil." Virgil guesses as I look from him to Turk, who hadn't said anything yet.

"...shit." Turk curses, causing me to laugh again, but louder. I spot Linus look at the three of us, knowing what he was thinking. The rest of the crew saw the twins as annoying and irritating. I sometimes did too, but for the most part they made this job fun for me.

"Hey! Don't touch me...!"

"I'm not touching you." Turk replies as I look back at the two. Turk has his hand over in Virgil's space, wagging a finger in his face.

"Take your hand out of my face." Virgil swats Turks hand away only to have him put it right back in its place.

"It's not in your face."

"Get it out of my face. Stop touching me!"

"I'm not touching you. Am I touching you? Am I **touching **you?" I look between the two as this continues for what seems like ever, just back and forth and back and forth like little kids. I laugh lightly, remembering when Rusty and I had been kids. At least when my parents were still around. He used to do the same thing and it bugged the crap out of me.

I notice Linus move in his seat and see him hold his head in his hands, trying to cover his ears. I give a small understanding smile, realizing that he must not have any siblings and wasn't used to this type of...conversation. Siblings were always trying to find knew ways to annoy each other. It was our favorite past time.

"This is your side." Virgil pushes Turk's hand away and demonstrates a line in between them, "Stay on your side."

"Get off!" Turk shouts back and pulls his hand away.

"Stay on your own side then!"

"Then stay on yours!" I suddenly see hands flapping in front of my face as Turk and Virgil start to hit each other aggressively. I throw my arms over my face, feeling the two hit me more then each other and try to shrink away from the blows.

"Stop! Stop it! You guys are hitting me!" I yell and then start swatting at both of them in retaliation. They stop and look down at me as I shake my head at them, "How old are you two?"

They look at each other with a blank stare.

"Yeah how old are you? Twelve?" Virgil speaks first and I roll my eyes, knowing where this would lead. Suddenly they start going at it again and all I can do is cover myself. After another few more hits I Charlie Horse both of their legs, ending the fight.

"Seriously!" I yell and look between them a little irked. I mumble something and then look to the back of the van where Linus was. My eyebrows knit together at the emptiness the back of the van had acquired, "Guys? Where's Linus?"


	13. Back It Up and Black Out

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Guys? Where's Linus?" I ask and look back at them. Both of the boys turn in their seats and stare into the back of the van with me. We all look back at each other, none of us knowing where Linus had disappeared to or what to do about it. I look back at where Linus had been and curse under my breath.

"Rookie never listens..." I scowl.

"What do we do?" Virgil asks and looks from me to Turk.

"I'm going to go an-" I start, but suddenly get cut off when the back of the van opens to reveal Danny, Basher, and Yen with the pinch. I close my eyes and sigh heavily, "Oh great..."

They quickly huddle the pinch inside of the van and then shut the doors behind them. They make sure the pinch is secure and Danny yells for Turk to drive off. I look back at Turk as though he was mad, seeing as we were leaving Linus behind in another state.

"Stop the car Turk!" I yell at him as Danny looks at me. He quickly realizes that we're missing someone; someone he specifically told to stay in the van. He looks behind himself and looks between Basher and Yen.

"Where's Linus?" He asks as Basher and Yen look around the van, suddenly realizing the same thing he had. The two of them look at me and Danny's eye follow. I look between them all, shaking from the bumpy car ride.

"He was here and then he wasn't. I don't know where he went." I explain as Danny shouts for Turk to stop the van. Turk does and I grab hold of whatever I could to keep myself from flying into the pinch. Danny moves to the side of the pinch where a side door of the van was and opens it. He stares out as Basher and Yen look over his shoulders at the institute they had just come out from moments before.

I quickly pick myself off the ground and lean over Virgil. I reel down his window, letting in the cool night breeze, and struggle to keep myself from lying on top of Virgil.

"Excuse you." Virgil snaps as he kept his hands in the air, afraid to lay a hand on me. I shake my head at him and continue to look out the window, "Do you mind?"

"Not really. Thanks for asking." I reply as I stare out the window with him and then feel a body hovering over my back. I look from the corner of my eyes and see Turk looking over me at the building. I shake my head and give a small laugh.

"There he is." Danny speaks up and nods his head towards a stairwell to the right. I follow his nodding and see Linus in one of the windows.

"Oh look at this dough nut." Basher comments as we all watch Linus run down a flight of stairs with a guard following after him. Yen says something and we all look back at him a moment before turning back to watch Linus with blank faces.

"Shouldn't someone help him?" Virgil asks as we all watch Linus running around the top floor of the institute being chased by several security guards now. I nod my head, but don't volunteer. I wasn't going to get caught for this joker. Danny had told him to stay in the van. He should have stayed in the van. If he got caught, then that was his own damn fault.

"Oh, that's a good idea, Rabbit. Let's 'op out of the van and we can all get nicked!" Basher calls back at him. I look around the van at everyone and then back at Linus. I start to feel bad, but Basher was right. Linus really shouldn't have left. He should have listened to Danny and stayed in the van like the rest of us. If he had he wouldn't be in the mess he was in now. Now all we could do was watch him, hoping he got out or risk getting caught ourselves.

Suddenly a loud smash interrupts my thoughts as I watch glass sprinkle to the ground like snow from a window on the second floor. I scan the building and see Linus stepping out the cleared window and onto a roof of a lower building. He looks nervous as though afraid he might fall through. A security guard follows him out onto the roof and I send a panicked look Danny's way between the wall of the van and Virgil's seat.

Danny and me knew hat the other was thinking. We had to help him. I look behind me at Turk and push him back into his seat. I turn around and sit on Virgil's lap, having no where else to go.

"Back it up!" Danny calls out and slams the side door shut, sitting back down in his seat. Turk hurries and puts the car in reverse, backing up as quickly as he can. I feel Virgil wrap an arm around my middle to try and keep me from falling to the ground of the van. I grab a hold of the head rest and place my other hand on the dashboard to steady myself.

The van jerks right and I feel myself fall back into Turk's seat, hitting my back into the arm rest right between my shoulder blades. I try to sit up, my back bending down towards the floor while my legs lay over Virgil's and my head on Turk's lap. Another jerk sends me to the ground completely. My ankle scraps against something metal on Virgil's seat, digging into my skin and causing me to hiss.

"You've got to be kidding me...!" I growl out and sit up, holding my ankle while gritting my teeth tightly at the sharp pain. I glare at Turk while I rock back and forth, "Where the Hell did you learn to drive? You should have your license revoked!"

"Sorry sweetheart!" Turk answers back and then the van suddenly stops abruptly with a loud screech. It sends me back towards the pinch where my head hits it with a dull, sharp thump and seems to bounce forward again like a ball thrown against the floor. The car then settles in its new spot with a little lurch forward.

Yen and Basher quickly open the back doors for Linus to hop in while I sit myself up from lying on the van floor. I close my eyes tightly and try not to concentrate on the sharp pain in the back of my head. It felt as if I had been thrown off a bull onto a cement floor covered with jagged rocks and it brought unwelcomed tears to my eyes.

After another moment I open my eyes and look out the windshield, trying to take my mind off the pain. I suddenly scream and grab onto Turk's leg as I see someone roll down from the roof of the can, over the windshield, and then onto the hood like a sack of potatoes. Linus stands up from the cement, seeming to be a little confused as he peered in through the windshield at us, and then runs to the side door where Danny opens it for him to hop in.

Linus barrels into the van and Danny slams the door shut behind him. He looks towards the front and can calls out for us to take off. Turk didn't need another invitation and threw the van into drive, hitting the gas pedal with all his might.

"You stupid bastard!" I hear Basher yell as we drive off the university campus. I couldn't care less about Linus getting yelled at. He deserved it. He should have listened. If he had I wouldn't have the pain in the back of my head and what a pain it was.

"Ahhh!" I look back at the sharp scream and see Yen holding his right hand tightly as Basher leans towards the open back door that was swinging loosely. From the scene I could tell exactly what had happened. The doors weren't hut tight, Yen had his hand near the open one, and it had slammed on him.

"Yen, are you alright?" I call back to him, preparing to stand up from my spot on the van floor. I get a sudden dizzy spell and place a hand to my forehead, sitting back on the floor. I close my eyes tightly and grit my teeth.

"I got it!" Basher calls back and closes the back door, turning to look at Yen. I give a small wave in his direction and faintly hear him ask Yen to see his hand. Yen shouts something in Mandarin as his hand shakes slightly and throbs from being slammed in the door. I take my hand away from my forehead and look over at Danny and Linus. Danny was mad. Anyone could see that. He was glaring at Linus, preparing what he wanted to say carefully as if it would be one of his monumental speeches.

"If I say stay in the van, you **stay **in the _van_!" Danny scolds Linus, who was looking rather guilty as he refused to look at Danny. Danny stares at him a moment longer then prepares to snap again, "Do you got it!"

"Got it." Linus replies as I look back out the front windshield. I feel my head bob as I get another small dizzy spell. I rub my ankle, where I had hit Virgil's seat, to take my mind off the pain in the back of my head. I move to lean back against the dash again. I wince, feeling a bruise on my back between my shoulder blades and pull my knees to my chest, lying my forehead against them. I peek down at my ankle and see a cut extending straight across my anklebone and a little passed towards my heel. My head wasn't throbbing or aching like before, like I knew it should have been. Actually, I couldn't really feel it at all anymore. It tingled a little, but felt as if I had never hit my head at all.

"Whoa!" Turk suddenly calls out as I lift my head and stare at him. He turns back from the road and looks down at me, swallowing hard. My eyes narrow in question at him and wait for some sort of explanation to the way he was acting.

"Turk?" I ask finally and arch an eyebrow at him, "What is it?"

"Uh, well, um.." Turk stumbles over his words, taking turns between looking at me and the road. He looks back at me again and pulls a hand from the steering wheel, wagging it at his head in small circular motions. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He closes it again and looks back out the windshield quickly.

"Turk, what's wrong?" I ask again, a littl louder this time.

"What's going on up there?" Danny calls from the back as Turk takes another quick glance down at me with a somewhat worried expression in his stormy blue eyes. Seeing the worry made me worry.

"Uh...uh, y-you alright there Sweetheart?" He asks and confuses me further. My ankle stung, my back was a little bruised, I probably had a bump the size of Texas from the pinch on the back of my head, but they would all heal. It wasn't like I had been shot or anything.

"What do you mean?" I ask softly and stare at Turk in question. He turns to look back at the road, swallowing hard again. He bobs his head from side to side, puckering his lips a little as if thinking of sarcastic things to say to me. He shakes his head and peers over at Virgil.

"Virg, do you have a napkin or something?" Turk asks and looks to his brother again.

"No." Virgil replies without searching. Turk removes a hand from the steering wheel and waves his hand randomly in frustration.

"Virg would...would you at least look!" Turks snaps back and slams his hand back on the steering wheel, shaking his head as he stares out the windshield. Virgil looks down at himself and then pats his side. Turk looks to him and then snaps his fingers hurriedly, "Anything Virgil! Come on!"

"I'm looking!" Virgil pats himself again and then starts looking in his pants' pockets, searching for 'anything'. He moves to his jacket and pulls one side of the jacket, reaching into the inner pockets. He pulls out the small pack of travel tissues and shows Turk, "All I have is a pack of old tissues."

"What the Hell is going on!" Danny shouts again as I look at him and shake my head, shrugging my shoulders. I had absolutely no clue what had gotten into Turk. He had taken one look at me and then began asking for a napkin.

"What's wrong Turk?" I ask again and look back between Turk and Virgil for an answer. Turk looks back at the road and then glances at me again, nodding towards me.

"Your head's bleeding pretty good." He explains and I narrow my eyes at him in mock suspicion.

"What?" I ask with a small laugh. My head wasn't bleeding. It was fine. Just a bump. I slowly reach a hand to the back of my head where I felt no pain coming from, "My head's fine Turk. It's just a bump."

I touch my head where I should have felt some pain and feel something crusty in my hair. Slowly my eyes narrow in honest suspicion at what was in my hair. I pressed further through my hair and felt something gooey and warm. I pull my hand away and see the crimson liquid on my fingers, making me a little more then queasy. I feel my breathing shallow as I stare down at the blood, my eyes locked with it as if it was a neon sign in a diner window. I was never very good around blood.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Virgil asks and leans over me to try and look me in the eyes. I feel one of his hands rest on my shoulder, but I all I do is close my eyes and swallow hard.

"Sweetheart, you alright?" Turk asks, noticing my look. I don't answer and begin to feel my hands shake slightly, "Sam? Samantha...? Danny, somethings wrong with Sam!"

I hear shuffling and know that Danny has moved from his seat. I feel him kneel in front of me, placing his hands on the side of my legs as he rocks back and forth from the motion of the van. I rock along with him and try to hang on to the conscious world.

"Sam? You alright?" He asks and again I ignore everything around me. He takes hold of my hands that I still held out before me and looks down at the crimson liquid, "Whose blood is this?"

I open my eyes and look down at our hands, seeing Danny's hand turned palm up with little smudges of blood on his fingertips. I start to hear my heart beat in my ears as I begin to sway back and forth, feeling as though I would topple backwards.

"Sam no! Stay awake! Sam!" Danny shouts, but to me everything seems to slow. I lock eyes with Danny and watch as his mouth moves, but no words find my ears. I feel my head bob left and right, my eyes becoming heavy. He places his hands against my cheeks again and continues to shout silent words at me. Then I feel myself fall to the right and everything goes dark.


	14. Stay Awake

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

~Turk's POV~

I look over at Sam again and try to answer her. I wasn't really sure what I was seeing. I didn't even remember seeing her hit her head. Then again I was trying to drive a van full of people. I look over at Virgil, meeting his gaze.

"Virg, do you have a napkin or something?" I ask and take a quick look out the windshield to make sure we wouldn't crash into anything. I then look back at my brother and wait for him to look around.

"No." Virgil replies without looking and I can feel my blood boil.

"Virg would...would you at least look!" I snap and slam my hands on the steering wheel. I shake my head and look back out the windshield, growling under my breath. This wasn't the time for Virgil to be acting like this. I look back over at him and watch as he pats himself down. I snap my fingers at him to try and hurry him up, "Come on Virgil! Anything! Let's go!"

"I'm looking! Give me a second!" Virgil pats himself again and then starts looking in his pants' pockets, searching for 'anything'. He moves to his jacket and pulls one side of the jacket, reaching into the inner pockets. He pulls out the small pack of travel tissues and shows me, "All I have is a pack of old tissues."

"What the Hell is going on!" Danny shouts again I shake my head. I look back down at Sam and watch her shrug her shoulder's in reply to him.

"What's wrong Turk?" She asks me again and then looks between me and Virgil for an answer. I look back at the road and then glance at her again, nodding my head towards her to try and get her to understand.

"Your head's bleeding pretty good." I explain and watch as she narrows her blue eyes at me. I could tell she didn't believe me.

"What?" She asks with a small laugh, "My head's fine Turk. It's just a bump."

I watch as she touches her head where I saw the crusting blood stain her blonde hair. Slowly her eyes narrow in honest suspicion at what was in her hair and pressed further through it hair. She pulls her hand away and looks at the crimson liquid on her fingers. She just stares at it as if she had never seen it before.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Virgil asks as I look back out at the road. He leans over her to try and look her in the eyes, but then looks to me for an explanation. He places a hand on her shoulder, but she only closes her eyes and swallows hard.

"Sweetheart, you alright?" I ask, noticing her look. Her hands begin to shake slightly and I feel panic build up within me, "Sam? Samantha...? Danny, somethings wrong with Sam!"

I hear shuffling and know that Danny has moved from his seat. I can't look back that far because I was driving and try to look in the rear view mirror. It doesn't help any.

"Sam? You alright?" Danny asks and again she ignores everything around her, "Whose blood is this?"

Sam opens her eyes and looks down at their hands. I see her start to sway back and forth slightly as she continues to stare at the blood on her fingers. I know that Danny is kneeling in front of her and trying to get her to look at him, but she just ignores him and continues to stare at the blood like she was in a trance.

I had no idea what was wrong with her. The minute I mentioned blood she suddenly froze up like she had just seen a guy shot down in front of her. I look back at the road again and ponder whether or not to pull over. I really wanted to or to drive to a hospital, but that would be suspicious.

"Sam no! Stay awake!" Danny calls out as I look back from the road again, nearly turning fully in my seat to see what had happened. Sam falls to the left and into Virgil's seat, unconscious. I feel my heart stop and grip the steering wheel tighter till my knuckles turn white.

"Danny, should I stop!" I call out and look back at the road before the van. I really wanted to stop and now I really wanted to get her to a hospital, whether or not it looked suspicious. I didn't care.

"No, keep driving!" Danny yells back at me and takes Sam's head in his hands, "Sam?"

"I think we should stop! Or at least go to a hospital!" I call back and spot Danny tap Sam's cheeks to try and wake her, but she stays unconscious. Something was wrong. How had the blood started? Had she hit her head on something and when? I look back at the road again and shake my head, "Danny, I think we should-"

"No! We have to get out of here! Get us back to Vegas!" Danny shouts back and tries to keep her still with the motion of the van sending her back and forth, "How did this happen!"

"I don't know!" I call back and try to steady my breathing. I feel angry, more then angry. I had no idea how it had happened and I wished to God that I did, "All I saw was her head bleeding!"

"I think she hit her head on the pinch." Virgil speaks up and points to the pinch sitting in the back of the van, "She seemed alright though."

"Why'd she pass out like that?" I ask, trying to keep myself from looking down at her unconscious form.

"I dunno, maybe the fact you slammed her head into that thing!" Virgil yells at me. I look over at him and feel anger surge through me till it burned through my veins.

"I did!" I shout and look back at the road for a moment before looking back at him.

"You slammed on the brakes and she went flying into it!" Virgil points back at the pinch.

"Why didn't you hold onto her!"

"I tried, but you drive like a mad man! You always have!"

"Neither of you are 'elpin' her!" Basher calls out and moves from beside Yen to kneel beside Danny. He starts to push him out of the way, "Let me see her."

Basher leans over Sam and looks at the back of her head, spotting the crusted blood in her hair. He follows the trail of crusted blood and sees the hem of her shirt was spotted with blood.

"Why did she freeze like that?" Danny asks as he sways on his knees from the rocking of the van. Basher looks over at him a moment and gives a small snort of a sarcastic laugh.

"Come on now." Basher gives a small laugh and stares at him, thinking Danny was joking. Danny stares back and then shrugs his shoulders, awaiting an answer. Basher narrows his eyes at him, "Hemophobia. She 'as Hemophobia Danny. You really didn't know that after all this time?"

I had heard that term before; Hemophobia. At the moment though I wasn't concerned with trying to remember what it meant. I was more concerned with the unconscious girl on the van floor bleeding from the back of her head because I couldn't drive well.

"No." Danny replies and shakes his head a little. I was becoming more and more frustrated by the second. It wasn't important whether or not Danny had known or any of us had known. We had to get her help.

"Would you please shut up and just look at her head! Please!" I shout suddenly and smack the steering wheel with one of my hands.

"Yeah, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist." Basher replies and looks back down at Sam. He gently moves her hair, exposing the gash that sat there with a stream of blood trailing down beneath her hair and down the back of her neck. Basher looks over the gash and then looks to Virgil, seeing the tissues.

"Give me those tissues." He commands and takes the tissues from Virgil. He rips open the packet and pulls out several of them. He scrunches them together and places it on the back of Sam's head, applying pressure to try and stop the bleeding.

"Is she gonna be alright?" I ask, feeling like Virgil had been right. It was my fault. I should have driven better. I shouldn't have hit the brakes so hard. If I had gone a little slower, stopped a little better, she wouldn't be unconscious and bleeding right now. It was all my fault. I had gotten on Rusty about grabbing her the way he had and now I had done this. Rusty was going to kill me.

"She may 'ave a concussion." Basher starts and pulls the tissues away a little to see the gash, "She's bleedin' pretty well too, but I won't know anythin' for sure till we get to the hotel and clean her up. She'll need stitches. That's for damn sure."

"She's not going to like that very much." Danny comments and runs a hand over his mouth, "She hates needles."

"Especially since she'll 'ave to be awake during it." Basher looks over at Danny for a moment and then back down at Sam. Basher's words make me feel much worse then before. I keep my eyes on the road and grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turn white again.

"Are **you **alright?" Virgil asks, noticing my knuckles and the look on my face.

"I'm fine!" I refuse to look at him and pay attention to the road before me. I glance over at Sam from the corner of my eyes and suddenly a dull ache starts in my chest. I turn back to the road keep on driving, "Will she be okay until we get back?"

"Well, if we can wake her up and keep her awake we 'ave a better chance." Basher replies as he tried to keep Sam's head from rocking back and forth.

"Then what are you waiting for! Wake her up!" I yell at them and press on the gas a little more. I was already speeding and anymore was probably a bad idea. The last thing we needed were cops pulling us over. Especially with the pinch in the back, Danny and the others dressed in black, and Sam unconscious in a van with no windows with all men. Very bad idea.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" Basher snaps back and I can feel him glaring at me. I shake my head and try to think of a way, anyway.

"Sam!" I take a quick look back at Sam and then return my gaze to the road. I release my right hand from the steering wheel and place it on her shoulder. I shake her and look back down at her, "Samantha, sweetheart, you have to wake up!"

"Oh yeah, that'll work." Basher scoffs and looks down at Sam. He pulls up one of her eyelids open and calls to her softly to wake up. He pats her cheeks, trying to be careful of the back of her head. I grip the steering wheel with both hands again and shake my head.

"Mhn." The familiar tone causes me to look back at Sam. Her eyes flutter open, heavy and tired. She stares at everyone as though not knowing where she was.

"Sam, you 'ave to stay awake. Giggles. Samantha keep your eyes open." Basher pats her cheeks again to keep her from falling back into unconsciousness. Her head bobs, but Basher keeps her from falling, "Keep your eyes open Sam. Sam...!"

"Robert...sorry...Marcello...oh, my head..." Sam mumbles out as her head sways left and right again within Basher's grasp. She closes her eyes and lets her head hang, "So tired..."

It was easy to tell that she was fighting the urge to fall into unconsciousness again, but she soon loses and falls limp in Basher's arms. I feel useless. All I could do was drive the damn van and pray that Sam would be alright after the three hour car ride back to Las Vegas.


	15. Waking Up In Vegas

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

I feel myself slowly awaken and hear movement around me. I can smell the faint scent of alcohol and stale bandages, but don't know why. It didn't sound like I was in a hospital. I was lying on my left side on top something too soft and too plush to be a hospital bed. I feel something move beside me, rocking the thing I lay on.

"How is she?" The voice was familiar to me. Not familiar enough to actually be able to put a name to. It wasn't Rusty or Danny or Basher. Not Frank or Reuben or Saul. Virgil maybe? No. It was Turk. Why was he here?

"The same as two minutes ago when you asked me the same ruddy question. Now stop 'oppin around and sit somewhere before I boot you out." I knew this voice belonged to Basher. He wasn't trying to be mean and his voice was steady and concentrated like he was working on something, "How are **you** doin'?"

"Me? How...am I doing?" Turk sounds surprised by the question. I hear small shuffling like he were switching from one foot to another, "I'm fine. I'm great actually. No scrapes or bruises and definitely no gash in the back of my head like Sam, who's just lying there all unconscious and everything because of me. I'm peachy."

"Sam will be fine, Turk." Basher laughs, "She's a fighter."

I hear the click of a door knob and a slow creaking follows behind it as it opens. I still didn't know where I was. I had a guess, but it couldn't be right.

"Hey. How's she doing?" The newest voice asks. I knew this was Virgil. His voice was too unmistakable.

"Sam's fine and you can tell Frank and whoever else is out there waiting for a prognosis the same Virgil." Basher retorts as I hear something tear from close beside me, "Bloody wankers, the lot of you. I can't work with all these interruptions."

"Yes sir." Virgil's sighs and then I hear the door click closed again. Poor Virgil.

"You 'earing all this Sam? All they're bloody worried about is you. Not the job or the ruddy money; you. You don't wake up soon Rusty's goin' to start bashin' in 'eads. Particularly Turk's for not driving more carefully or taking you to a hospital." Basher mumbles under his breath.

"Hey! I wanted to take her to the hospital, but no. What Danny says goes." Turks growls out and I can hear him huff. It takes all of my self control not to laugh or at least smile. I liked listening to the boys' conversations when they thought I couldn't hear them. That's when the truth came out.

I feel, what I assume was a bed I was lying on, bounce slightly as if something had stood up from beside me. Most likely Basher standing from the bed. The slight movement shakes me and I feel a pain shoot through the back of my head going all the way to my forehead. In reaction I let out a small groan while I close my eyes tighter.

"Hey, is she alright?" I hear Turk's footsteps move closer to me and feel the side of the bed sink a little. I feel his hand brush back the hair from my face and push it behind my ear, "Sam are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"Turk she's fine. I promise she is." Basher lets out a small laugh and I can only imagine him shaking his head at Turk's behavior. Basher already knew that I liked Turk and now we both knew that he liked me.

"Yeah because, apart from bleeding out of a hole the size of a golf ball in the back of her head, having her head slammed into that metal **death trap** int eh first place, and being unconscious couldn't possibly end up killing her." I could hear Turk's tone just dripping with sarcasm. Basher laughs and I feel the bed move again, Turk standing back up. I feel the other side of the bed sink and feel Basher lay a hand on my upper arm. Basher gives another laugh and suddenly I feel a sharp sting in the back of my head.

"What're you doing...?" My voice is scratchy and I feel a little foggy. I try to pull away from the cloth full of alcohol Basher had pressed to the back of my head.

"Finally. You're awake." Basher gives a small laugh and continues to wipe the alcohol against the back of my head. He finishes and I sit up slowly, feeling dizzy after doing so. I place a hand to my forehead and groan.

"How do you feel?" I look to where Turk was standing at the end of the bed. His hair was slicked back and his hands were as deep as they could be in his jeans' pockets. I give him a goofy smile and give a sarcastic thumbs-up.

"Absolutely amazing." I reply with a small laugh and let my thumbs-up go. My hand drops from my forehead and I look between the two, "What happened? I remember Linus hopping into the van and all, but everything gets kind of fuzzy after that."

"Well, you hit your 'ead pretty 'ard on the pinch, Giggles." Basher explains and pulls out another piece of gauze from the first aid kit on the nightstand. I watch as he folds it once and then pours alcohol onto it, "Hold this on the back of your 'ead."

"Do I have to?" I feel my face twist as I imagine the stinging the alcohol will cause again. Basher looks at me from over the tops of his glasses and I know the answer.

"Doctor's orders." Basher hands me the gauze and turns back to the nightstand.

"Hmph...! Doctor's orders..." I laugh at the inside joke and shake my head. Basher was the doc when I couldn't be. I do as I'm told and hiss at the sting when the cloth touches the sore fleshy wound on the back of my head. I see Basher pull out a threaded needle from the first aid kit and my eyes narrow at him. There was no way he was coming near me with that.

"What're you doing with that?" I ask carefully as I watch him straighten the thread.

"You need stitches. I actually thought you'd be out longer and I could get it done, but you woke up. So unfortunately we 'ave to do it while you're awake now." Basher looks over at me and I shake my head slowly, inching away from him.

"No way." I laugh nervously. My head already hurt. There was no way he was going to stick a needle and thread through it. No way in Hell.

"I 'ave to stitch it." Basher leans on the bed, needle and thread in his hands, and stares at me. I shake my head slowly and mechanically, eyes closed. I mouth over and over 'no way', but know that it was going to be done no matter how much I fought it, "Sam, I 'ave to."

"You're gonna have to knock me out again because it's not happening while I'm awake." I clench my hands and stare down at the needle in his. I had never had stitches before and I was not looking forward to them now, especially since Basher wasn't a certified doctor, "Where's Rusty? I'll do it if Rusty's here. Otherwise it's not happening."

"Rusty's busy at the moment. Can you settle for a slightly shorter blonde?" Basher asks through a sigh. I narrow my eyes at him and then look to Turk. I like Turk, I do, but I think I would feel more comfortable with Rusty being there at the moment.

"Alright." I give in seeing as I wasn't going to get my first choice. Basher looks back at Turk and nods his head once towards me. Turk just looks over at me and then back at Basher before realizing what he had meant.

"Oh right. Sorry." Turk walks to the other side of the bed and sits down beside me. He looks to me and then at Basher, slightly uncomfortable and unknowing of what he was supposed to be doing.

"Lay your 'ead on his shoulder." Basher explains as he moves closer to the headboard so he can see the back of my head, "Can I 'ave the gauze now?"

I take the gauze off my head and hand it to him. Turk wraps his arms around me, avoiding my bruise between my shoulder blades and holds my arms under his.

"I'm not a prisoner Turk." I give a small laugh, but welcome the feeling of safety his arms brought me.

"I got stitches once. It was on my forearm. I flinched half way through and tore out all my stitches. Doc had to start all over again." Turk speaks up. At first I had no idea why he was telling me this, but then it sunk in. He was making sure that I wasn't going to flinch and tear out my stitches. I wouldn't be able to do them again.

"Turn your head a little." I do as told and turn my head to the right, lying my right temple against Turk's shoulder. I feel Basher place a hand on the base of my neck by the gash. I reach my right hand up and place it beside my head where Turk's shoulder and upper arm met.

"Alright. 'ere we go. Take a deep breath Giggles and grit your teeth." Basher announces as I take a deep breath and hold it, gritting my teeth. Soon I feel the needle going through one side of the gash and creating a sting. I grit my teeth harder and shut my eyes tightly as the needle goes through the other side. I let out my breath slowly as Basher pulls the thread taunt and then starts pushing it through the one side of the gash. Then through the other again.

"I'm going to kill Rusty." I growl out softly and tighten my hold on Turk. Turk rubs my back once quickly to try and comfort me. I grip Turk's shoulder tightly as my left arm pulls me as close as I can be to him. I feel hot tears fall from my eyes and start to soak his shirt where my head lies.

"You're doing great." Turk whispers and then tightens his arms around me, releasing a small gagging sound. I feel him turn his head away and hear the gag again, "Oh my God..."

"Is it that bad?" I ask with wide eyes as worry seeps into my veins. I want to move, but Turk's iron hold on me keeps me in my place, "Turk?"

"No. I just...Oh my God...it's so gross. There's no brain, just an empty skull." Turk gags again and I give a small laugh, realizing he was trying to make me laugh. I then groan as I feel the thread being pulled taunt once more. I give a small cry as I feel the needle continue to poke through my skin. I try to think of anything other then the pain in the back of my head. I tighten my grip on Turk, trying to be careful not to dig my nails into him.

"Can you be a little more gentle?" Turk softly snaps at Basher as I feel the hand on my lower back start to move back and forth to comfort me. Or maybe it was to comfort himself because I could still hear him groaning and gasping every time Basher stuck me with the needle. I didn't know who it was bothering more; me or him.

"I'm doin' the best I can. Where this gash's at makes it difficult to get at with the needle and I doubt anythin' that I could possibly find to numb it would be of use at this point." Basher replies as I feel the thread being pulled through my skin, "We're almost done."

I try to think of last night and what had gone on to try and distract myself. I remember being in the van with the twins when Danny, Basher, and Yen left to get the pinch. I remember the twins playing twenty questions and Linus getting annoyed by them. Then Linus had gone missing when Danny and the rest had returned. I remember Turk backing up the van and me sliding along the floor. Then hitting my back and scrapping my ankle. Then sliding back again when the van lurched and hitting my head on the pinch.

I remember the look in Turk's eyes; the fear and the sheer worry. I remember of the feeling of my heart sinking at seeing him like that, of making him feel like that. Then I remember Danny asking me what was wrong. I didn't answer him. Then the dizzy spell started and then nothing. I couldn't remember what happened after that. It was a big black out.

"A few more, Sweetheart." Turk whispers in my ear as I feel the needle poke through one side of the gash and then go through the other side. It's repeated a few more times before Basher pulls the thread taunt and ties it. He reaches back into the first aid kit and retrieves the scissors.

"All done. You did great. Mother Teresa would be proud." Basher announces and cuts the thread as close to my head as he could. He stands up and picks up the first aid kit, looking down at me. He holds up the needle and sighs, "I'm gonna go sterilize this and get you some pain killers. I'll be back, alright?"

I nod my head and Basher takes the needle and the first aid kit with him as he walks out the door of the room. I feel Turk's arms loosen on me, but I hold him tighter. I wasn't ready to let go. Turk wraps his arms around me again as I let a few more tears fall on his already soaked shoulder. There were a lot of reasons why I was crying; my head, the lack of real sleep, everything was piled on top of each other, and the damn had been broken by the safety I felt from being in Turk's arms.


	16. Marcello DeLuca

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

I was still in Turk's arms, crying. I couldn't help it and he didn't seem to really mind. He rubs my back comfortingly and sighs every now and then.

"You did better then I would of." Turk whispers with a small laugh. I laugh too and pull back, staring into those stormy blue eyes I had begun to love so much.

"God, look at your shirt." I laugh and wipe my cheeks, "I'm not usually this much of a crybaby. I promise."

"Yeah I know." Turk looks at his shoulder and shrugs, looking back at me with a smile. My eyebrows knit together slowly as I stare at him confused by his words.

"You know?" I ask as Turk gives a small laugh and leans back on the palms on his hands on the bed.

"Well yeah. You're all the others talk about. Especially Rusty and Danny." He laughs again and I give a dramatic sigh, "What's that for?"

"I was going to have to cry again if they didn't talk about me every second of every day." I give a small smile and lean back on the bed. I pull the covers up a little more and yawn. I was tired again, but I didn't want to go to sleep.

"Wow, conceited much." Turk laughs at me and sits up straighter on the bed, moving himself to lean against the headboard beside me. He crosses his arms over his chest and then crosses his legs at the ankles, staring up at the ceiling. I watch him with a 'what are you doing' smile as he turns and looks at me. He stares a moment longer and then cracks a grin, staring to laugh.

"You make it so easy." I finally say and then stop, trying to think whether or not I had actually said that aloud.

"I make what easy?" Turk asks and looks back at me. I stare back at Turk and study him quietly. I stare into his stormy blue eyes and feel contentment.

"This. The job. This way of life." I answer and give a heavy sigh. It was true. He did make it easy. For reasons unknown he made me feel content. It was the same feeling of contentment I had with Rusty, Danny, and Basher. It was the same contentment you have with family. My lips curl into a warm smile, "You feel like home."

"Like home?" Turk's eyebrows knitted together in question. I lick my lips and nod my head, looking up at the ceiling. I wasn't exactly sure how to describe it to him. I could barely describe it to myself.

"It's so hard to explain." I laugh and look back at him again.

"For my sanity try. Please." Turk gives a smile, "I promise I won't judge whatever kind of messed up crap that comes out of your mouth."

"Real words of encouragement there Turk." I laugh and shake my head. I try to think of how to even begin to explain the feeling I had. It was warm and peaceful, "A couple years ago I left this 'lifestyle' and became a musician. I traveled to all these different places and met all these different people, but every time I would go home to my little cottage in Alaska it just..."

I pause and think of a better way to say what I wanted then where I was going.

"Just...?" Turk encourages and turns himself so he was on his side. I look to him and chew on my bottom lip. I was really struggling to find the words.

"It just felt like...I never really went home. It was like I was always still out there in all those different places with all those different people, that I just didn't really care about and I knew didn't really care about me." I look back up at the ceiling and take a deep breath till my chest hurt, "It felt like even though that was my home, it wasn't. Not really. Like it was a charade I put on. A lie to myself or something. Then this job came along."

"The job you didn't want to take." I roll my eyes at Turk's assumption and shake my head. That wasn't true. I had wanted to take the job. I had been bored with my life and this seemed like so much fun. There was just something else though.

"I was skeptical to get back into the game because I thought I had wanted a normal, boring, steady life. When I was doing all these different jobs it seemed like such a poor way of life. Always off in some sort of dangerous situation, getting shot at, stealing things, getting hurt...I thought I wanted the opposite of all that."

"But?" Turk asks when I fell silent. I look at him and smile.

"Buuuttt," I draw out the word and look up at the ceiling, "When I got to Reuben's and the entire crew was there sitting in the living room while Danny was explaining things...I took a good look at everyone and watched everyone joke around with each other. That's when it hit me."

"What? That there really was soda in the cooler?" I smack Turk on his arm and then laugh.

"No!" I rearrange myself under the covers and lie my head on the pillow, pulling the covers up to my chin. I look over at him and sigh, "I realized that this was where I wanted to be."

"Surrounded by a bunch of crooks? Maybe Basher was wrong and you hit your head harder then he thought." Turk looks down at me and pretends to try and look at the back of my head. I give a small laugh and close my eyes, feeling them becoming heavy. I wouldn't let myself fall asleep though. Not yet.

"**You** see crooks and swindlers and thieves. I see people who understand me better then anyone else in the world and who would set aside a hundred million dollar job just to make sure I didn't hit my head too hard." I let out a yawn and ran my hands over my face to try and wake myself up, "I see people who will take me as I am without trying to fix every little thing that's wrong with me."

I look over at Turk after a moment of silence and see that he was staring down towards his feet as if in a daze. I knit my eyebrows together and give him a little nudge.

"Turk?" I call out softly and then lean on my elbow.

"That was," Turk starts and slowly looks over at me, "deep Dr. Phil. Thank you for that insight into the mind's of blonde female musicians on the road."

"Shut up!" I pick up my pillow and smack him twice before he gets a hold of it. He tosses it off the bed and tackles me down, tickling my sides. The bed may have been soft, but my head was still as sore as ever. I scrunch my eyes shut tightly and groan. I move a hand to the back of my head in pain, "Ow, my head."

"Sam, I'm sorry. I forgot-"

"What're you two donuts doin'? Huh?" Basher asks as he walks into the room carrying a glass of water and two tiny white pills, "Get off 'er before you really injure 'er."

"Let 'im alone Basher." I mimic Basher's accent. Basher gives me a hard stare and both Turk and I make a face at each other as though scared.

"Guess he didn't like that too much." Turk whispers and gets off of me, taking his spot on the bed beside me. I sit up and take the pills from Basher's hand. I gulp down the water and lean back against the headboard.

"Rusty's back. I told 'im you needed to rest for a little while before he came in 'ere." Basher announces and walks towards the door, "Turk, Danny wants to speak with you and Virgil in a little bit. So don't stay in here too long or he'll find you."

"Alright. Close the door." Turk calls back at him as Basher walks out of the room. I lie back down in bed on my side and snuggle under the covers again. The room was silent for a long while. I knew that Turk had something on his mind because he would look down at me every now and then.

"Yes?" I ask finally and lean up on my elbows, my belly against the mattress. Turk looks over at me and shrugs. I hang my head and sighed heavily, "Come on. Just ask already."

"The other night when Rusty was reading you the riot act," Turk began and I groan as loud as I can, hiding my face in my pillow, "Never mind."

"No, Turk." I lift my head and look over at him. I knew someone would ask eventually about it, "It's alright. I'll tell you if you really want to know."

I turn myself over under the covers and stare up at the ceiling. I try to decide where a good place to start would be and sigh softly.

"When I turned fifteen Rusty started taking me out on jobs with him. Nothing really big. Just the beginner things like pick pocketing and crap." I start and look over at him. He nods his head, staring off across the room, waiting for me to continue. I look back at the ceiling again, "I got good fast and soon we were pulling bigger cons. When I was eighteen I met this guy; Marcello DeLuca. He was a real charmer and at eighteen I thought I was in love with him. We did some jobs together and he was good, but I was better. Little did I know at the time that all Marcello wanted was Rusty to join his family's mafia. Marcello and I started dating and Rusty joined them. They had him doing cons over other mafias and he did some other things that I'm not too sure about."

"Why?" Turk asks suddenly and looks over at me. I give a shrug, refusing to meet his gaze, and give a small ghostly laugh.

"Because he belonged. It was like he had found a family that appreciated his 'talents'. Guess his little sister idolizing him wasn't enough. These people though...The DeLuca family were monsters, but I didn't know that at the time." I look over at him and chew on my bottom lip. I wasn't sure how detailed I should get with him. I trusted him, but did he really need to know everything? I settled on less detail equals greater good, "After a while Rusty learned just how monstrous they were and told me that I should leave. He left without me and me, not knowing where else to go, stayed with the DeLuca family."

"Then what?" Turk asks and stares down at me.

"Marcello proposed a year after Rusty had been gone. I accepted because I thought I loved him and I thought he loved me, but..." I fall silent and stare off at the sheets of the bed. I chew on the inside of my cheek as I fell into my thoughts.

"What? But what?" Turk breaks me from my thoughts. I look away from him and sigh heavily.

"But I quickly understood why Rusty had told me to leave. Just when I was ready to break that's when Basher found me."

"That's how you know Basher?" Turk asks and I can hear the interest rolling off of his tongue. I nod my head and look over at him, giving him a small smile.

"Basher rescued me from them. He pulled the whole 'knight in shining armor' and rescued me. He came to do a job for them and afterwards he took me away." I look back at the ceiling and remember that day. I had been so broken down, so hurt, "I stayed with Basher for a year before Rusty, with Danny's help, found me. Things weren't the same between us then. I always knew he was angry with me for not leaving like he had told me too and I was angry with him for just leaving me."

"If he knew that guy and his family was so bad he should have taken you with him." Turk speaks confidently and stares down at me. I give a small smile and nod my head. I had felt the same way until Basher had brought to my attention a good point. Maybe Rusty was trying to protect me somehow by not just taking me with him.

"After that I bought my cottage and I began playing the violin to try and get away from the crime world. I think Rusty hated that more." I give a small laugh and shake my head, the back of it stinging.

"Why? Wouldn't he like that you were out of the line of fire?" I look over at Turk and nod my head, telling him that that was what I had thought, "So what then?"

"I don't know. I think he was jealous really. I was getting out of the game to do my own thing. I was planning on getting married, not to Marcello of course, but to a nice guy and having a couple of kids." I begin my answer and knit my eyebrows together, "I always thought he liked being the charming Casanova. I never really pictured him as the settling down kind of man. Then again it might have just been that he wanted to get out of the game too. He had spent most of his life in it to try and keep our heads afloat."

"Maybe." Turk replies and I narrow my eyes at his tone. I turn my head and look at him, asking him what was wrong with that. Turk gives a shrug and looks away for a brief moment, "Nothing is wrong with it. It's just...can you picture Rusty getting married and having kids? I can't and I barely know the guy."

"And you can picture me having that life?" I ask seriously and turn on my side to look at him fully. He stares down at me and gives a small shrug.

"Yeah, kind of. A lot more then your brother. You're," Turk falls off, but my look tells him to continue on, "You're different then the rest of us. You can have that life."

"You don't think that Basher or your brother can?" I retort in honest curiosity. Turk looks away for a moment and then shake his head, "Not even you?"

"I don't know. I just...not right now I don't." He replies and I nod my head slowly at his honesty. That was a bummer. I liked him and was beginning to like him even more, but I wanted a family. I wanted to get married and have several kids, living out in the middle west in a colonial house with a wrap around porch and three acres of land. I wanted the apple pie life. He didn't.

I shake my head st my thoughts and roll onto my back. I was getting _way _ahead of myself. I hadn't known him long enough to think like that. Not even long enough to think about dating him. I was letting my emotions take control and I couldn't do that while we had a job to do. I wasn't even sure at this point if I could do it when everything was said and done either. After this job I still had to work on getting myself out of the game. Then and only then could I start to think about dating someone. The last thing I wanted was to have a relationship where my past would come and bite me and the ones I care about in the ass.

"I think I'm going to sleep now if you don't mind." I speak up through a yawn. I snuggle my face into the comforter I had pulled up to my chin and look up at Turk. He gives a small laugh and nods his head, picking himself up from the bed. He walks to the door and opens it.

"Feel better Samantha." He walks out the door and closes it behind him. I close my eyes and grit my teeth. He had used my name. Guess I had shared too much. Now we had back tracked to strangers again.

"Great." I grumble into the pillow and scoff, "Just great."


	17. Wonderful Tonight

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

"Wait, what happened?" I ask as I look from Linus to the others. My head was spinning from what Linus had just revealed. I close my eyes and try to work everything out in my head. It just wasn't making any sense, "Rusty told Danny he was out? ...Just like that? He can't do that. Can he? Can he really do that?"

I look over at Saul for an answer and then at Basher and Frank. Each of them gives me a shrug and so I look back at Linus. I had been out all yesterday evening well into this afternoon and boy, had I missed a lot.

"Apparently so." Linus answers simply, looking around at us. I stare at him for a long moment with my mouth slightly agape.

"And he put** you **in charge of _his _part?" I ask incredulously, not believing my ears. Linus looks back at me and nods his head.

"Yeah." Again Linus answers simply. I shake my head and around at everyone else in the room.

"...I'm gonna kill him." I growl suddenly as I jump from the couch, only to be caught by Turk wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Down girl!" He calls out and tugs me back to sit beside him. I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head, mentally yelling at Rusty with every bad name and curse I could think of. How could he do this to Danny? Just because he had talked to his ex-wife Tess, the museum curator of the casino and Benedict's new girlfriend? Why hadn't he booted me out then? I had been seen by Paolo. Wasn't that just as bad or worse?

When I had calmed down I place my head in my palms and rub my face gently. This was bad. Very bad. Turk releases his hold on me, but keeps a careful eye in case I decide to jump up again to tear Rusty a new one.

"This isn't going to end well." I announce and then look around at the boys. I couldn't believe it. Rusty had kicked Danny out of his own game. Not only was I angry, but I was worried more then ever now about this job. Rusty had thought we needed twelve and now we had eleven. One less then what he had told us he wanted. Not to mention Danny was a pro. Him and Rusty were the best of us.

"Well, we're off to get settled for tonight." Frank announces as he, Basher, Yen, and Lawrence get up to leave. They walk out of the suite and soon Virgil and Saul walk away to get dressed in the suits I had laid out in their rooms. This left Turk, Linus, and me in the living room. We sit in silence as each of our thoughts run wild. Turk sat with his hands laced, elbows on his knees. Linus looks between him and me every now and then, then looks to the floor. I stare at the floor, working out this job in my head without Danny being a part. It was going to be even more difficult now. I couldn't see a sure way out of it for us.

"Well...Sam, you'd better go get in that little red number in the bedroom." Linus speaks up, clapping his hands together once and then rubbing them a little together as if to warm them, like Danny did. I look up at him and narrow my eyes a little. I thought he had just been cocky, naive, the night we met at Reuben's, but now he was an ass.

"Maybe." I whisper to myself, thinking I had heard his tone wrong. Linus gives me a small smile and rubs the back of his head, looking around the room for a moment. He looks back down at me and gives a small laugh, shrugging his shoulders while I watch him with a steady eye.

"You know, if you need any help I-"

"No, I think she's fine Linus." Turk answers before I could get a chance. I feel one of his hands sit on my shoulder and pull me closer to him. It reminded me of how Rusty used to get when we were teenagers and I had brought over a boyfriend; protective. I look from Linus to Turk and see the hard stare Turk was giving the Rookie.

"Um...Turk would you...?" I try to find my words and look over at him again. He continues to stare at Linus, his gaze showing how bothered he was towards the youngest of the crew members.

"Yeah..._sweetheart_."Turk answers, drawing out the nickname he had chosen for me on purpose. I doubt he had any idea of what I had been trying to ask him since I didn't even know what I was trying to ask him. I stand up from the couch and move around Turk's legs, walking towards the bedroom.

"Turk, come on." I speak softly and slowly he stands up, his eyes never leaving Linus as he walks passed him and over to me. I take his arm and pull him into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind me. I lean against the door, hands behind my back and look over at Turk, who sat on the end of the bed. I didn't know what to say. He seems more bothered by Linus's words than I was.

"...you okay?" I ask softly and watch him. He leans his elbows on his legs and shakes his head, staring off to the side of the room. I nod my head slowly and look down at my feet when I get an idea. A mischievous smirk crosses my lips, "You do realize he wasn't telling you to get in the dress, right?"

I give a small laugh and look back at him, hoping to either cheer him up or calm him down. He looks over at me and stares at me for a long moment before giving a small laugh of his own.

"Ha! Made you laugh." I point at him and push myself off of the door, walking over to the bed where the dress lie beside the pillows at the head of it. I pick up the dress and hold it in front of myself, looking down at it. I sigh heavily and shake my head, "I really hate red."

Turk looks over at me and gives a smirk, looking over the dress against me. I didn't want to really know what it was he was thinking about. I could only imagine.

"Maybe if you were a brunette." He laughs and I gawk at him in a playful manner. I drop the dress and pick up a pillow, throwing it at him. He catches it easily and holds it against him, grinning at me. I pick the dress back up and hold it up, looking it over. I could feel my stomach churn uncomfortably as I began to picture the red dress as something more...liquid, "Why would you pick that color if you hate it so much?"

"Because I pictured Sonya as the kind of girl that wears red a lot." I answer and lower the dress to look at Turk. I think for a moment about starting to change and then give a small laugh, starting to head towards the bathroom.

"Hey, I'll turn around. I promise not to peek." Turk laughs as I walk into the bathroom. I stop at the door and look back at him with an arched eyebrow. Turk gives s small shrug, "...much."

"Oh ha-ha." I laugh sarcastically and point towards the desk against the wall, "Get dressed in your suit. It's there on the desk."

With that I close the door and lock it behind me. I quickly undress and step into the open back dress, pulling it up to sit comfortably on my shoulders. I could feel where the 'openness' of the back stops and where the fabric hugs my butt to the point I thought I was wearing tights instead of a dress altogether. I stare at myself in the mirror and scowl softly at the dip of the neck line. For me this exposes just a little too much of myself. I definitely didn't like how much cleavage was showing and the fact that I knew you could nearly see all of my backside made it worse.

I was used to wearing jeans, a teeshirt, and some kind of shoes. Once in a while I would wear a sun dress or a skirt, but jeans were just easier to run in or in my case walk in. I was a klutz and when I wore heels I was a bigger one.

"Wonderful..." I sigh and pull the make-up bag on the counter closer to me. I plug in the curling iron and get to work on my lashes. I quickly use the mascara and then liner, wiping away any imperfections that might be there. I then move to my lips, covering them with a bright red lipstick. I see the curling iron's ready light blink on and get to work curling my golden blonde hair.

I look at myself in the mirror again and laugh at what I had created. The only word I could think of to describe me was Virgil's nickname; Barbie. Though Barbie was as skinny as a rail. I had a little more meat on my bones. Not a whole lot to be considered chubby. More like pleasantly plump or average, which I was fine with. I was more muscle then fat, at least in my legs and abdomen. I had little to no upper body strength.

I laugh again and shake my head as I pack up the make-up and curling iron. I walk to the door and unlock it, opening it and stepping out into the bedroom. Turk turns his head from where he lay on the bed and then sits up. I feel tingles in my hands and butterflies in my stomach as his eyes traveled over the taunt fabric on my body. I could only guess at what he was thinking and imagining. Men...

"Wow." He speaks up, his eyes seeming to be glued to me as he smooths the tie he was wearing with his suit. Slowly I turn around, showing the entirety of the dress. I see him swallow hard as he then takes a deep breath, "You look beautiful tonight. Red's a good color for you."

I feel my cheeks heat up instantly as I look down at the ground, trying to hide it. I start to rock on my heels as I wait for him to speak. I cross my arms over my chest, feeling nervous and slightly embarrassed as I look up at him. He's just looking at me; no smile, no smirk or grin...justing looking at me as though lost in his own thoughts. I meet his stormy blue eyes and feel myself fall prey to their unyielding power they had over me.

"Say something. Please?" I ask softly, not being able to meet his gaze anymore.

"...something." Turk answers just as soft and then smiles warmly at me. I give a small laugh and walk towards the desk where my shoes sat on the chair. I could feel Turk's eyes follow me and stare at me as I pick up my heeled shoes, "Can't you just...?"

"Just what?" I ask, turning around to look at him. He bobs his head a little and then raises his hands up, pretending to be tugging something down. I immediately pick up on what he meant and threw my hands behind me, covering my butt, "No way! It's already showing too much!"

Turk laughs as I pull the chair out further from the desk and sit down, pulling my heels on. I finish strapping them and stand up, smoothing the dress out. Turk stands from the bed and moves to the full length mirror, fixing his suit. I watch him with a smile and stand, walking up beside him.

"Look at my hubby." I laugh as I stare into the mirror at Turk, "So handsome."

"Yeah? You think?" Turk asks as he straightens himself, flattening his suit lapels. I watch for a moment and then lean my head against his, the heels making me a little taller. I think about how good we looked beside each other as Turk wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him, "You really do look beautiful. Your eyes especially."

"My eyes?" I ask and pull back from him, looking down at him slightly. He nods his head and smiles at me.

"Yeah. They're really a dark blue the outer parts of your iris and as you go closer to your pupil it gets lighter till it looks almost white." He explains and looks between my eyes. I can feel my cheeks start to heat up and so I look away, "They remind me of an ocean."

I give a small laugh and shake my head, looking back at him. An ocean? I had heard them described as a lot of things, but never an ocean.

"What's so funny? I was giving you a compliment." Turk speaks up and presses his lips into a tight line. I cover my mouth with one of my hands and try to stifle my laughs.

"Thanks Romeo." I laugh and walk out of his grasp, heading towards the door of the bedroom. Turk looks back at me and smiles again, "It's almost time for Saul's 'delivery'. We should go."

"Oh, right." Turk looks in the mirror again and then runs a hand through his dirty blonde hair before walking over to me. I unlock the door and step out, seeing Saul and Virgil already ready. Virgil's eyes land on me as Turk closes the bedroom door behind him.

"Whoa...you look...wow." Virgil falters, his eyes seeming to be glued to me like his brother's had been. Saul smiles at me and I can't help but try to avoid their gazes, wishing I wasn't this exposed to them.

"How 'bout shutting that trap of your's Virgil. You're drooling." Turk breaks the silence as he walks up beside me, hands in his pant pockets and a scowl on his face.

"No I'm not." Virgil snaps back as I look at Turk for a moment, seeing the same emotions stirring in his eyes as earlier when Linus had made that comment. Men... I look away from him and struggle with what to do with my hands. Do I place them behind my back? Do I cross my arms? How is it that women who dress this way always know how to stand and look so good doing it?

"Shall we, my dear?" Saul asks before I can make a decision with my hands. He holds his arm out for me to take and smiles. I smile back and take it, trying to calm myself by taking slow deep breaths. This was worse then the last play; much worse. Saul begins leading us out when I remember I was forgetting something.

"Oh! My pur-" I start to turn around, but feel someone press my purse into my hand.

"I've got you covered," Turk whispers in my ear and I smile at him, mouthing a thank you. He only winks back and opens the door of the suite for us. We head out of the hotel room and into the elevator, riding it down to ground level. We head into the crowded casino and walk for a bit, trying to sell the act.

I get looks from everyone in the casino and I can hear their whispers. Not all of them were flattering either. I could feel the anger and jealousy of several woman as the four of us continue on and I did my best to ignore all others. Turk and Virgil eventually go their own way to where the black Mercedes sat outside waiting for them. Saul and I walk around the slots for a bit and then make our way to the poker tables where we awaited Benedict to come search us out.


	18. On Trial

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

After an hour I left Saul at the poker tables and went outside to the car. For the moment we were waiting out in the back parking lot for the 'signal'. I sat in the back seat, stretched out across it as I stared down at my feet in the heels. Turk and Virgil were arguing about something in the front, which helped me take my mind off of my next part in the plan.

"No it's not!" Turk yells and looks to Virgil beside him.

"Yes it is!" Virgil shouts back.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"He's right Turk." I pipe up and swing my legs off the seat, situating myself in the middle of the back, "It was Eastwood in that one."

Turk looks out his window, scowling about something I couldn't make out. I give a small laugh and lean back against the seat. I was a little bored and also nervous. This part was important. In a few minutes I would be face to face with Terry Benedict with a stitched up bump the size of Texas on the back of my head, wearing a dress that felt a two sizes too small. If I didn't compose myself now I would be the reason this job fell apart.

_Ring...ring..._

I look towards the front and at Virgil who was ringing. I lean forward a little as he takes out his phone and flips it open.

"Yeah? ...now? ...okay." Virgil shuts the phone, placing it back in his coat pocket. He looks out the windshield and sighs, "You ready Sam?"

Virgil and Turk both look back at me at the same time, making all my effort to keep myself calm slip. I stare back at them with my eyes slightly wide and an expression of dread across my face. I slowly lean back in my seat and watch as the two look to each other, sharing the same expression of uncertainty. Turk starts the car and pulls us out of the parking lot. I try to steady my breathing as I stare out the windshield of the car. I see the front of The Bellagio appear before us and silently curse Rusty for having dragged me into this. I, of course, didn't mean any of it. I was ecstatic I was here, just not at the moment.

I quickly pull the brief case from the floor and take the handcuffs from the pocket on the back of Turk's seat. I cuff one of my wrists to the brief case and look back out the windshield, seeing Saul standing with Terry Benedict in front of the stairs to the casino. The car stops by the sidewalk and Virgil steps out first, moving to the back door. He opens the door for me and I step out as sexy and smoothly as I can manage, one leg slowly after the other. I stand up straight, my eyes becoming sultry as I sway my hips while I walk towards Saul.

"And who is this young beauty? Your daughter?" Benedict asks as I give my best provocative smirk and hold the briefcase against my lower stomach, making sure he saw the handcuffs.

"No. My wife." Saul announces in his Russian accent, looking over at Benedict through his light sunglasses intimidatingly. Benedict looks from me to Saul, nodding his head a little as though unsure of what to make of it.

"Where's this-"

"Right here." I announce in my Russian accent and hold out the briefcase that was attached to my wrist. Turk and Virgil walk up on either side of me. Turk quickly undoes the handcuffs and transfers it onto Saul's wrist. I look between Saul and Benedict with a smirk, "Shall we gentlemen?"

Saul and Benedict lead the way into the casino as I follow behind, Turk and Virgil walking on either side of me. Several of Benedict's men join us, keeping us in a protected circle as we move through the floor of the casino. I watch carefully as we're led on and do a double take as I spot a familiar face at the slot machines.

Danny gives a small, short wave to me as we pass. He was sitting on a stool with the tie around his neck loosened and the top button of his shirt undone. He looked like a mess. I look back at the casino before me, trying to compose myself again. What the Hell was he doing? Was he trying to get revenge for being kicked out of the game? No, Danny would never do that. He was up to something.

"Saul?" My heart skips a beat at the use of Saul's name. We keep walking on and I carefully look behind us to see where the call had come from, "Saul! Saul, hey!"

Our party slows and Saul looks back at the man who had called out to him. I stare at the man wearing the cheap brown suit and then look back at Saul, trying not to break my character.

_"You know him?" _I ask in Russian, looking back at the man that Turk and Virgil were standing beside and waiting for commands. Saul looks the man over with a hard stare while Benedict stares at Saul, confused and also suspicious. Saul shakes his head at me and I nod at him, looking look back at Turk and Virgil, _"Get him out of here. Now. Before he messes everything up."_

Virgil and Turk grab the man by the upper arms and start to drag him away as he calls out to Saul, trying to get him to remember him. I notice the look on Benedict's face; suspicion. I pray that Saul had some kind of plan.

"Sonya," I look back at Saul and Benedict again. I was surprised that he hadn't started walking again and so I stare at him, waiting for him to continue, "Go with them. Make sure Yuri and Sasha don't do anything...drastic."

_"Yes, of course."_ I reply and look to Benedict with a smirk, "Pleasure to have met you."

"You as well." Benedict replies and soon I was walking after where Turk and Virgil had gone. I step outside the casino and into the night, looking around for the car. I spot it parked a little ways off down the drive of the Bellagio and walk as quickly as I can to it without causing suspicion. I open the back door and slide in, shutting it. Turk starts it and we head off towards the warehouse.

"So...that was unexpected." I start up a conversation, finding the silence to be too much for the moment, "What did you do to that guy?"

Turk looks into the rear view mirror at me as I awaited the answer. He gave a small smirk and a huffy laugh.

"Got him into a taxi heading towards the nearest strip joint." Turk answers and I can hear the honesty in his voice. I blink a few times, feeling a little strange now. That was just not something I wanted to hear about.

"...Oh." I can't think of any other reply and sink back into the leather seats, crossing my arms over my chest. I stare out the window at the buildings we pass, wishing to get out of the dress I was in. The car fell silent, but it didn't last long.

"Hey, do you think that Paolo character will show up again?" Virgil asks suddenly from his seat, "Maybe with his brother this time or the entire gang?"

My heart freezes and slowly I look to him in surprise. How had he known? Virgil looks back at me and then looks to Turk, who sat quietly.

"Turk told me." Virgil answers my unasked question. I look to Turk and grit my teeth, but I wasn't truly angry. I was actually alright with Virgil knowing and the fact that I didn't have to be the one to tell him was even better, "He was pretty intent on getting to you. Nearly got away from me and Turk when we were dragging him out of the casino. Kept talking about this and that."

"This and that?" I ask carefully and look to Turk for a brief moment. Turk turns and looks to Virgil, growling at him to shut up.

"Oh, would you relax? You're like a chihuahua that sees another dog playing with his favorite toy and keeps yippin' about it." Virgil shot back at his brother and shakes his head. He looks back at me, "He kept saying that he just wanted to talk to you about something along the lines of...what was it? It sounded so stupid."

Virgil looks away from me for a moment and tries to force himself to remember. He then looks to Turk, giving him a small shove, asking if he knew what it was.

"He wanted to talk to you about a viper." Turk pipes up and looks back at me in the rear view mirror. A viper? The car or the animal? Or was it neither? Realization sets in on me and slowly I close my eyes, my mouth agape.

"A viper in one's bosom?" I ask, knowing exactly what Turk was trying to say.

"Yeah! That was it! It's so stupid." Virgil laughs and faces forward in his seat. I slowly open my eyes and look to the rear view mirror. I could see the question in his eyes, but I was reluctant to tell him what I knew. Turk stops the car at the warehouse and Virgil is the first one out. I go to open my door, but Turk locks it.

I look to him slowly and take a deep breath, sighing heavily. He had turned around in his seat to look back at me. I could unlock the door and get out, but that wouldn't do any good. One thing I had learned about the twins was that when they wanted you to tell them something they were going to get you to tell them.

"What did he mean?" Turk asks and stares at me. I open my mouth to speak and look out the window of the car.

"He...Paolo was talking about Marcello." I pip up softly and look away from the window to him. Turk sat quietly, patiently waiting for me to go into further detail. I shake my head slowly and look down at the heels I wore, "Paolo was never the problem. He hated Marcello. We were friends by association. We would always refer to his older brother as a 'viper in one's bosom' because of the fable by Aesop where a farmhand found a frozen viper and held it to his chest to revive it only to get a fatal bite by it when it awoke. Alright? Are you satisfied?"

"Almost." Turk replies and I roll my eyes, groaning, "Do you have any idea what Paolo wanted to tell you about Marcello?"

"Nooooo and I don't caaaare." I grumble out and lean my head against the window. I hit it gently against the glass and close my eyes, "Why does it matter?"

"Because if he shows up suddenly we have to know. It could ruin this entire job Sam." Turk retorts, his voice rising. I look back at him and stare at him, uneasy. I didn't like the way he had said it. It made me feel like if anything happened to ruin this job then it would immediately be my fault.

"Paolo would never tell Marcello anything." I reply softly. Paolo was a lot of things, but disloyal wasn't one of them. Especially not to the people he likes, "Never."

"You sure?" Turk's reply had distrust within it. I didn't understand. Why was I on trial? What had I done? I shake my head at him and unlock my door, stepping out. I slam it with all my force and walk to where Basher and Virgil were readying the pinch. My heels click against the concrete floor as I stop by the white van we had picked out. I stare at the pinch in the back of the van and subconsciously raise a hand to the back of my head where the stitches sat.

"Alright, it's ready." Basher sets down a wrench and as Turk walks up beside me, looking at the pinch. Basher looks to Turk and then to Virgil, "You two, 'elp me load 'er in."

I give a small shiver suddenly, feeling a chill run up my back as the wind blew cool air at me from the open doors of the warehouse. I rub my arms and feel my teeth chatter lightly as I tried to warm myself.

"I told you to bring a coat." Turk moves from the van and pulls off his suit jacket, throwing it over my shoulders, "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." I reply without looking at him and give another shiver. Turk walks back to the van beside Virgil and Basher and I scrunch my shoulders up, hiding half of my face in the jacket to try and get warm. My nose fills with the scent of Turk's cologne. It was wonderful, musky and clean and enticing. I unconsciously smile as my eyes land on Turk as he helps Basher and Virgil push the pinch further into the bed of the van.

I didn't understand. What was wrong with him? Had Rusty or Basher said something to him? Told him everything that I had left out? Was that what he was upset with? Or was it really just the fact that my past could ruin this job for everyone?

I take another sniff of the cologne and think back to earlier in the suite. The way he had jumped on Linus, the way he touched me, the way we looked standing beside each other in the mirror...I feel the butterflies return as well as the tingles and look to the ground. I sigh heavily as the doors to the back of the van shut, earning my attention. I look up to see Basher walking away and the boys looking back at me. I nod my head towards a box on the table off to the right of the van.

Turk and Virgil walk over to the box that held their next 'uniform' and quickly pulled it on. They walk passed me, but Turk stops. His eyebrows knit together as he stares down at me. He places a hand on my forehead, starling me.

"What are you doing?" I ask and pull his hand down from my head.

"Checking for a fever. You're cheeks are flushed." Turk responds and places his free hand on my cheek. I swallow hard and try to think of anything but the feel of his hand. I was upset with him. I try to hold on to that anger, but it was quickly failing.

"It's this cold air. It always does this to my skin. Sorta like in the winter." I try to make up some lie and pull his other hand away from my face. He stares at me a moment, doubt in his stormy eyes, but then nods.

"Alright. C'mon." He places a hand on my back and leads me towards the car, opening the door for me. I slip in and take off my heels, curling into a ball as Turk shuts my door. He walks around to the driver's seat and climbs in, starting the car. I hear Turk play with a few of the buttons near the radio and then feel heat blowing from the vents nearest me.

"Better?" Turk asks as he turns to look at me. I nod my head and pull his jacket tighter around my shoulders. We take off from the warehouse, Turk's cologne comforting me into a light sleep.


	19. An Unexpected Occurance

**}{~Seas of Change~}{**

I walk through the hotel section of The Bellagio, heading towards the elevators and not paying any attention to the people I walk passed. Turk and Virgil had gone in through the loading garage, dressing like waiters to get passed the guards. I play with my purse as I press the up button to the elevators, waiting for them to open though it was at the top floor.

"Mrs. Zerga!" I feel my eyes go wide at the voice and slowly I turn around to see Terry Benedict walking towards me with two security guards as he wrote something into the leather planner he held. I put on my best arrogant smirk and narrow my eyes slightly, trying to fall back into Sonya's personality.

"Yes?" I ask as he and his guards stop before me. I jut my right hip out a little and bend my knee, waiting patiently for what he wanted to say though deep down I was having a heart attack. This was not part of the plan. I was a fish out of water and here was the big bad wolf.

"I just wanted to apologize to you for earlier." Benedict smiles, finishing his writing and looks up at me. I cock my head a little as my eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What for?" I ask in my Russian accent, honestly having no idea what he was talking about.

"If I offended you with my comment earlier tonight." Benedict explains though I still have no idea what he was talking about. I quickly try to think back to earlier when I had come with the briefcase and can't pick out an offending comment.

"I'm sorry Mr. Benedict. I'm still not sure what you are referring to." I admit, trying to keep in character the best I could. Benedict stares at me for a moment and narrows his eyes a little, a sly smirk crossing his lips.

"Alright. I get it." Benedict gives a half laugh and clicks the end of his pen, placing it into his suit coat pocket, "It never happened."

I stare at him with a sly smirk of my own, quickly trying to think of what to do. I could just hear Rusty now, yelling at me to hurry up and say something; anything to deter Benedict from the trail. This was the exact situation I was afraid I would be put in during this job. I grip my purse a little tighter and then slowly nod my head, winking at him.

"Exactly." I agree with him, though I was unsure as to what I was agreeing to. Benedict looks me over slowly, nodding his head at me as though in approval.

"That dress compliments your..._qualities _nicely, Mrs. Zerga." Benedict compliments, his tone having an ulterior motive. I feel a pang of anger in my chest. He was supposed to be dating Tess, Danny's ex-wife. The ass.

"Sonya." I announce and stand a little straighter. I was going to see just how much of an ass he was. Benedict gives a small huff of a laugh and nods his head at me.

"_Sonya_...Mr. Zerga is a very lucky man to have you by his side." Benedict says as I feel suspicion rise within me. All I could think of right now was Rusty. Where was he when I truly needed to be protected? What would he do if he was standing right here beside me? I watch Benedict closely as he nods his head again, "I'm envious."

"You shouldn't be."

"Why not?" Benedict asks as he tries to hide his smirk. I scold myself mentally for saying anything at all now. I had dug myself deeper into this mess and I was having trouble climbing back out. I could feel my hands start to shake a little and think back to the advice Turk had given me.

_Just think about the next move you're going to make in the game; the next move Sonya would take because you're **her **not you when you step into that casino._

"Because you have more to _offer_ then my husband ever could." I respond with, not liking the way it had come out. It sounded so much better in my head. Benedict looks me over, starting at my feet and slowly inching his way up my body as his eyes gleamed with lust and wanting. I feel my skin crawl and wish that I wasn't by myself in this.

"If you need _anything_ during your stay," Benedict starts and reaches into his suit coat. He moves forward a little and pulls out a card, holding it out to me, "please feel free to call me on my **private** line."

"Oh I couldn't possibly," I start to say, but he shakes his head and moves closer to me. He leans over my shoulder, close to my ear so I could feel the warmth of his breath on my flesh, making my skin crawl more. I swallow hard and wait for what was to come next.

"I insist..._Sonya_." He whispers and then after a moment pulls back. He stares down at me and smirks, "You really are a beauty."

With that he walks passed me with his guards trailing behind him. I watch as they go through a door labeled 'AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY' and then hear the elevator doors open. I quickly walk inside and hit the 'close doors' button several times in a small panic while I thought about the idea of him coming back for some reason. When the doors close I lean back against the wall and relax, letting the breath go that I hadn't realized I was holding. I rub the bridge of my nose and shake my head, questioning how I had gotten away with all that.

I feel dirty and just wanted to get as far away as I possibly could. How could Tess like a guy like that? Did she know who she was really climbing into bed with? ...had I? I look up at the floor numbers above the doors and take a deep breath. I let my head fall back against the wall behind me and instantly I shoot forward, gripping my head where the stitches were.

"Son of a...!" I curse as the doors of the elevator open. I walk out of the elevator, dragging my feet as I headed to the room Rusty and Lawrence were hiding out in for the moment. My head was pounding and halfway down the hall I take off my shoes, my feet killing me. I was exhausted, in pain, annoyed, and just simply felt depressed now. I could really use a hug right about now.

I get to the door of the room and quickly go through my purse in search of the key. I find it and swipe it, the red light blinking at me while a it beeps repeatedly; denied. I swipe it again and again the red light blinks at me while it beeps; denied. I throw my hands up and look around the hallway. I take a deep breath and whisper under my breath every curse I knew. I close my eyes and lean my head against the door, swiping the key again while I pray for it to work. I hear the steady buzz come from the contraption and sigh; granted. I open the door and walk in, dropping my shoes and purse on the floor.

"When you said it would take forever I didn't think you were serious." Turk speaks as he and the others watch me walk further into the room, dragging my feet. I outstretch my arms and trudge towards him, my eyes stinging.

"Tuuuurrrrk." I drag his name out and then give a fake cry as I wrap my arms around him, hiding my face in his shoulder. I feel him slowly wrap his arms around me. He rocks me playfully back and forth, signaling to me that he had no clue that I wasn't joking. I feel pressure build behind my eyes and I fight the tears that were threatening to fall. I don't think I had cried this much ever and I really didn't understand why I wanted to cry now. Maybe because Benedict reminded me so much of Marcello?

"Did Sonya have a bad day?" Turk asks jokingly as he hugs me a tighter and laughs.

"No, Samantha did." I feel my voice crack a little. I hold onto him tighter and close my eyes tightly.

"What did Terry say to you?" Rusty asks and I know that he had seen the entire thing take place. I reply to his question with my face still in Turk's shoulder, not wanting to move so people could see my swelling eyes, "What?"

I turn my head and lie my cheek against Turk's shoulder. I keep my eyes closed and my arms wrapped tightly around him, enjoying the comfort.

"He wanted to apologize to me about something and then he said he was envious of Saul for having me as a wife. Then there was something about my dress suiting me and complimenting my _qualities_." I reply and give a small shiver of disgust, "Then he gave me his card telling me that if I needed _anything, _and I know exactly **what** he meant, that I should call his private line. He _insisted _and then he ogled me and I've never been more disgusted or felt more dirty in my life!"

I take a deep breath and huff, crossing my arms over my chest. I had more I wanted to say like, 'I kept asking where you were Rusty, why weren't you saving me, why weren't you there?', but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Lack of sleep, not eating, anxiety, fear, everything was just bubbling up. I look around at the guys, seeing them stare at me with awkward glances.

"You don't like rich casino owners? What kinda Barbie are you?" Virgil suddenly asks as he leans on the money cart he, trying to break the silence. He looks at the ceiling and snorts, "Hell I'd marry him just to get some of that cash."

I give a small laugh and shake my head.

"He's not my type. He's a snob, arrogant, and he's cruel. All traits I don't hold in high regard. Especially when I'm stared at like a piece of meat." I answer and move to sit on the couch Rusty was leaning against. Benedict was definitely not someone I would ever get involved with again. Ever.

"Okay then...you ready Yen?" Rusty asks after shaking his head at the conversation. He looks to Yen, who was wrapping his fractured hand and stares at him with uncertainty. Yen replies in Mandarin and ties the bandage on his hand. He walk towards the money cart as Virgil opens it for him. Rusty looks between the twins, "When do you make the deposit?"

"Uh, when we get your signal." Virgil answers as Turk scoffs. I stand from the couch and walk over to the money cart as Yen forces himself inside it. Turk looks over at me and then wraps an arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side.

"Dude, what do we look like?" Turk speaks up, staring at Rusty as though he had offended him, "A couple of pecker wood jackasses like Benedict or something?"

I look at Turk with my eyebrows knit together in question at what he had just said. When he looked over at me I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to know what he meant, but I smile anyway and wrap an arm around his waist. He squeezes me a little, causing me to laugh. He knew exactly what I wanted, needed, and wasn't afraid to give it to me.

"You alright?" Rusty asks as he hands the container of air to Yen in the cart, "You want something to read? A magazine?"

We wait for Yen to respond and suddenly he sticks his hand out of the top of the cart, his middle finger prominent. Rusty looks at us and then nods his head. He closes the cart and quickly we set everything in motion. Turk and Virgil head out of the room with the cart and Yen, leaving Rusty, Lawrence, and I alone. I sit down beside Lawrence and watch the screens that showed the feed of the cameras in the casino.

After a few more moments I see Turk and Virgil step out of the elevator, not dressed in their waiter uniforms, but were now in the hotel security attire. I get an idea in my head and start looking around the spots nearest me for something.

"Hey, is there a microphone so I can say something to the twins?" I ask, looking over at Lawrence when I couldn't find it. I knew there had to be one. Rusty always needed one so he could tell the crew what to do. There was one somewhere. Lawrence picks up something from his left and hands the microphone to me. I look over the instrument and then find the button I wanted. I press it and watch the screen, "Hey Turk?"

_"What?"_ Turk replies as he and Virgil walk towards their 'designated' door that would lead to the vault. I try to hold back the grin that was forcing its way to my face. I was definitely not mad with Turk any more. I was the type of person to forgive and forget over the little things.

"You're ass looks so cute in that uniform from here." I comment and allow my grin to come forth. I watch the screen intently as Turk turns his head and looks up into the nearest camera, "Red suits you."

He shakes his head at me as I lift my finger from the button and watch as Turk and Virgil walk up to the doors of the hallway. I watch them fight about forgetting their key and then the two other security guards as they tried to stop the commotion the twins were causing. I stand up from the couch and walk into one of the back rooms, finding a black duffel bag. I search through it and smile at my find. I pull out a pair of washed out jeans, socks, converses, and a green cotton t-shirt.

"Eureka...!" I laugh and quickly change out of the dress, feeling more comfortable afterwards.

"That's my cue." Rusty announces as he quickly throws on a tie and a wig while I walk back into the living room, pulling my hair into a ponytail. He leaves the room and I move back to the couch, sitting beside Lawrence again. I look at the screens, waiting to watch Rusty in action without actually having to be there with him for the first time ever.

Rusty is led through the personnel halls and into the security room where Saul lay, appearing to have collapsed. I watch as Rusty looks him over, takes his pulse, and then announces he's dead as Turk and Virgil walk through the glass doors in the paramedic uniforms I had gotten for them. Where they had changed out of the security guard suits I don't know.

"Why don't you just get together?" I look to my left at Lawrence.

"What?" I ask, my face falling a little. Was I really that obvious? Who else knew?

"You and Turk." Lawrence looks back at the screens, "Why don't you tell him you like him?"

"I..." I falter and look back at the screens. I watch the screen and stare intently at Turk, "Because it wouldn't do any good."

I feel Lawrence stare at me and then hear him type away on his keyboard. He hits a button hard and leans back a little on the couch.

_"Dude, I told you to hurry."_ Virgil's voice come through the speakers.

_"...Don't do that. Just don't do that."_ Turk replies and takes hold of his hat, moving it back and forth on his head several time before letting it sit still again, _"This is all your fault."_

_ "My fault?"_

_ "Yeah your fault!"_

I laugh lightly at the two bickering and shake my head, looking down at my hands in my lap.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Lawrence asks softly, an encouraging grin on his face. I try to smile back at him, but I fail. A lot of things could happen...he could say he didn't feel the same. He could say he **did** feel the same and then maybe a month down the road, after we had tried to keep a relationship going...he could break my heart. No. It wasn't either of those. My heart was already broken into tiny little shards. I hadn't really been able to pick up all the pieces yet and it wouldn't be fair to him, to anyone, to have to deal with that.

"I'm afraid." I admit and look at the screens. I had never had a good relationship. Mostly because I was always on jobs with Rusty, but I always seemed to back out of the relationships before they could get too far or even start since Marcello, "I don't want to get hurt."

"To be brave is to love someone unconditionally," Lawrence words stop my thoughts as I listen closely, "without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt."

I look over at him, in awe of what he had just said. I didn't know him very well and for the moment I felt bad that I hadn't taken time to.

"That was...that was amazing Lawrence." I give a small smile, surprised by him, "Did you just think of that?"

"It's Madonna." Lawrence admits with a sheepish laugh. I start to laugh with him and then break out into a whole hearted laughter.

"You're a nice guy Lawrence." I smile at him when I had calmed myself down.

"You're a nice guy too Sam." He retorts with, making me shake my head and laugh again.


End file.
